On Our Own
by branson101
Summary: The sequel to Living Life. Follow Bella and Edward as they raise her daughter, Tanya, and go to college while living with Jasper, Jessica, and Leah in Los Angeles.
1. Chapter 1

On Our Own: Chapter One

Our First Time

An hour later, both of us had showered and were getting ready for bed. This was it. This is the night that we had been waiting for and I was absolutely terrified. I was pulling back the covers on the bed when Bella came out of the bathroom. I looked up and the sight of her took my breath away. She had pulled her hair up and the night gown she was wearing left absolutely nothing to the imagination. It was black and completely lace. She was beautiful and she was mine. She stood there fidgeting while I stared at her until I regained my ability to speak and even then the only thing that I could get out was, "Wow!"

I walked over to her and cupped her face in my hands before I kissed her. I pulled back a little and looked her directly in the eyes, "Are you absolutely sure about this? We can wait if you want to."

"I want to make love to you tonight, Edward. I'm completely ready." Then I walked her back to the bed while kissing her and then I kissed her again. She shifted away from me and climbed up onto the bed and laid down. I crawled up beside her. I put my hand on her shoulder and slowly pushed the strap of her nightgown down exposing her breasts a little more. She rolled over onto her back and I pushed the other strap down her other shoulder. My hand trembled a little as I moved it to run my hand over her breast. As soon as I touched her she arched her back a little and let out a tiny gasp and then she leaned up and kissed me.

I had expected her to be scared. Hell, I was terrified lying here trying to figure out how to take her nightgown off. Or maybe I should take my clothes off first? Should I just wait for her to take her clothes off? Bella solved my problem for me when she grabbed my t-shirt and started to pull it off me. As soon as the shirt was off she threw it across the room and resumed kissing me.

I pulled my lips away from hers and started to kiss down her neck. The moany sigh that came from her lips made me laugh as I worked my way down towards her breasts. I pulled the nightgown down a little more so her breasts were completely exposed to me. I think that I like looking at them more than I liked looking at her legs. And I loved looking at her sexy legs.

I had one hand on one of her breasts and I took the nipple of the other one in my mouth making her moan and squirm under me. I couldn't believe how turned on I was just from this. In a shot of pure courage I moved my hand from her chest down her stomach and reached for the hem of her nightgown. I reached under it to find that she was not wearing any underwear. I swear to God that I was about lose it right then. I couldn't believe how wet she was or the amount of heat coming off her. It was amazing. What was even more amazing than how great it felt to touch her was the way that she was squirming and moaning even more than she was before.

Everything became a blur after that. It was nothing but a sea of clothes flying and moans and some screams, the good kind of screams. This was a good thing because in the heat of the moment, I forgot to be worried about overwhelming her. But if she was in any distress, at any time, she never gave me any indication of it.

I had been thinking about making love to Bella for a long time now. I had even fantasized about it quite a bit when I was alone. Mostly when I was in bed or when I was in the shower. I thought about it a lot when I was in the shower. It seemed to get more often the last couple of months as we started talking about it more and planning to live together. But no amount of thinking about it or fantasizing had prepared me for how amazing it was to actually do it.

"Tell me again why we waited so long to do that?" She laughed as she lay in my arms trying to catch her breath.

"I have absolutely no idea, but I want to do that again."

"And soon. Very soon and very often." She said kissing my chest.

We laid there holding each other for a while longer before Bella started shifting and squirming beside me, "Are you sore at all? Do you want me to run you a bath?"

"I'm not sore at all. But a bath does sound nice. Do you think we can both fit in there?"

"I don't think so. "

"Oh well. I guess I'll just have to make love to you again before I go take a bath." And then she climbed up on top of me.

She never did get that bath. We made love a couple more time before we both literally passed out. I woke up before she did and was hungry. I was also very naked. And so was she. I briefly thought about waking her up to have a little good morning sex but I was hungrier than I was horny so I got out of bed and took a shower.

By the time that I was out of the shower, Bella was up and standing in front of a pile of boxes wearing a bathrobe.

She looked up at me when I walked into the room and sighed, "We should have thought to run to the store to get some food in the house."

"There was a diner near that place we ate at last night, why don't we grabbed breakfast there and then go to the store?" She nodded her agreement and found some clothes to wear while I rummaged through my boxes.

We still had a lot of work to do to get the house unpacked and organized before her Dad brought Tanya to us. And most importantly we had to take advantage of the privacy before our roommates descended on us. I really wanted to hear her screaming out my name again like she did last night. I really, really liked that.

A/N:

SO it wasn't a fade to black. I hope that it was worth the wait. I have no posting schedule and I really don't know if I will adopt one like last time.

Thank you to all that reviewed Living Life. I feel honored that it reached over 1000 reviews! You guys are amazing.


	2. Chapter 2

OOO Chapter 2

Title

It was amazing at how fast two weeks could fly by. Bella and I had been having fun exploring our newly discovered sex life. There was no way that we were ever going to be able to fit into the tub together and neither of us was brave enough to attempt shower sex…yet. But that didn't mean that the only place we'd made love was the bedroom. We had sufficiently christened the couch and then there was the time that we got carried away in the kitchen. Bella spent hours and two bottles of bleach trying to sanitize the counters.

That was all going to change when Bella's family arrived later today with Tanya. I missed the little stinker a lot more than I thought that I would and I knew that Bella was starting to go a little stir crazy not having her around. But life was definitely going to be massively different with a baby in the house.

All in all we had adjusted to living together quite well. There were a few arguments but in all things were going smoothly. We had completely unpacked and set up our room, Tanya's room, the living room and the kitchen. We had moved all of Jasper, Leah, and Jess' furniture in their respective rooms and left it for them to decide how they wanted their space set up.

Bella and I had gone to the store last night and made sure that we had all of Tanya's favorite foods in the house, plus a few foods that she wasn't that crazy about but needed to eat because they were good for her. Like vegetables. She was not a fan of them but Bella insisted that she eat them anyway. She reminded me of my mom and I when I was younger. Alice had always loved food and trying new things.

Alice had called a couple of times but was really busy settling into her classes which had started a few days after she arrived in Paris. She said that everyone was always so tired when they got home from classes that they usually didn't have the energy to make anything beyond a cold sandwich and collapse into bed. She said that more often than not they didn't even have the energy for the sandwich. But she loved it there and was happy she decided to go.

I walked into our bedroom and found Bella fluffing the pillows again. Our bedroom. That was weird to say. I had never shared a bedroom before in my life, but I liked it.

"They are not going to come in here and inspect our bedroom to make sure that the bed is made properly."

"No, but my Dad _is_ going to be coming in here with the boxes of our stuff that we left behind. Do you really want him to get any impression that we are having sex?"

"I think that he knows or at least assumes, Bella. He knows that we are sharing a bed. He'd be pretty dense to believe that we aren't and we both know that your dad is a smart guy. Besides, I think that most people assumed that we were having sex for a long time."

"Why would they think that?"

"Bella, we have spent the night together, alone and in the same bed. It's a logical assumption."

"It's a wrong assumption." She grumbled.

"Most assumptions are, but it doesn't stop people from assuming things."

It was an hour later that we both heard the cars pulling into the driveway. Bella was out the door before the engines were turned off. She grabbed Tanya out of her car seat and was squeezing the life out of the poor child before I was out the door.

Charlie was laughing at her, "There used to be a time that you were happy to see me, too."

She didn't loosen her grip on the poor child but looked up and said a quick, "Hey Dad!" before kissing Tanya and did she just smell her hair?

I walked down to Charlie's car and greeted him and Sue before starting to unload the cars. Bella looked so reluctant to put Tanya down I told her to just sit down and relax and Seth, Leah, and I would unload the cars. She started to argue but Sue whispered something in her ear and Bella they turned and walked into the house with the first load but by the time I carried in the third armful of boxes destined for Leah's room I found her in the kitchen brewing a pot of coffee. I stopped to grab a bottle of cold water out of the fridge. It was June in Los Angeles and hot as hell outside. I was definitely not used to such heat and humidity and had taken my shirt off. Bella wasn't exactly concealing the way that she was staring at my naked chest. I just smiled at her, which caused her to blush and Sue to laugh. I just grabbed a couple more bottles of water for Leah and Seth and got back to work.

By the time that all the boxes were out of the car and at least were in the right rooms, I was exhausted. All I wanted was a hot shower and to collapse in my bed and sleep. I was too tired and sore to even think about having sex with Bella tonight. But there was no way that I was going to get to bed anytime soon. Bella told me that her parents were taking us out to dinner. They were just going to run to their hotel and check in and freshen up. Except for Seth, who begged his Mom for permission to stay with us for the night. At least staying with us was cooler than staying at a hotel with the parents. I think that the biggest part of it, although he'd never admit it, he was going to miss Leah. I knew that he missed Bella by the hug he gave her when they arrived. It had to be strange for him. He'd always had Leah around and then Bella and Tanya moved in and now he was going to be the only kid left in the house. Better him than me.

I sat down on the couch and was watching Bella sitting on the floor playing with Tanya while Seth was flipping through the channels on the TV. That was all I remembered until I felt Bella shaking me and telling me that it was time to get up. I had fallen asleep for an hour.

We had an enjoyable dinner and before I knew it we were headed back to the house while Charlie and Sue went on their way. Tomorrow Bella and Leah were going to take their family to the airport to fly home since they had driven down in Bella and Leah's cars. Tonight, I walked into my home with Bella, our daughter, and her sister and brother, and I was more content and relaxed than I ever thought that I'd be in this situation.

A/N:

For those of you that live in the US, Happy 4th of July. IF you live in England or one of its provinces, Happy Diamond Jubilee Year! For those in all other areas Happy I am thrilled that you are here and reading my story day! LOL! But seriously, please be safe if you are doing fireworks and if you are living in an area that had been hot and dry lately please consider not doing fireworks and risking wildfires.


	3. Chapter 3

OOO Chapter 3

Hello Fatherhood

Do you know what I learned since Charlie dropped off Tanya nearly two weeks ago? I found out that there was a huge difference in dating someone with a baby and living with someone that had a baby. I didn't understand that at all until Tanya got here and I got a crash course in parenting. I was on Skype with Alice and she was letting me know plain and simply that like it or not I was now that child's daddy.

"No shit. I thought she was just calling me 'da' to be funny." I snapped at her.

"Don't be an asshole, Edward. I'm just saying you can't just be her daddy in name only, you have to be her father and do everything you can for her. Just try to be like Dad. I can't wait for the first time you have to discipline her." Alice laughed and I paled. That was something I was really going to have to do at some point and that was going to suck big time.

"Yeah, well, he's a hard act to follow. I'm telling you, I didn't think that I'd miss them this much this soon." Tanya started cooing and reaching at the image of Alice on the screen again. That got Alice blowing kisses to her again. Tanya loved when Alice did that and was trying to mimic her.

"Where is the wifey anyway?

"Not funny." I rolled my eyes at her, "She and Leah went to the grocery store." That is when her roommates came home and walked up to her on the computer. There was one other girl in the apartment named Jane and then there were two guys, Demetri and Alec. Alec was Jane's twin brother and they had a dream of opening a restaurant together in New York City after they graduated. They always stopped to say hi to us if they were home while we were having a video chat. Alec whispered something to Alice and she nodded and then her roommates left the room and we were alone in our conversation again. We talked about home and our parents some more before we ended the call. She was right when she pointed out that at least I wasn't alone like she was. She was homesick already and missed us all, especially Jasper, but she said it wasn't completely unbearable with Skype. Her roommates made things easier. She said that Alec was a really good listener.

We ended the call when I heard Bella pull into the driveway. She was driving my car because hers needed gas and I was supposed to take it for her yesterday and I forgot. It caused a small argument between us. It only lasted an hour or two before we apologized to each other. She said that it was ultimately her responsibility to make sure that her car has gas but if I volunteer to take care of it for her but can't follow through then I needed to tell her. I swear, I just simply forgot that her car needed gas and I promised to take care of it. Until she was ready to leave and found it was on E. I guess it was all a part of learning to live as a couple. Charlie had given her a list of places that she could take her car for servicing and when certain things needed to be done, like oil changes and other preventative maintenance things. Some of it I knew and a few things I didn't. Before I used to wait until Dad told me to take one of the cars in to have something done.

I walked outside with Tanya and handed the baby to Bella as I started grabbing the bags of groceries out of the trunk. I carried them into the kitchen and started unpacking them. There wasn't a whole lot of groceries to put away, we hadn't needed much but Jasper and Jessica were due to get in tomorrow and we wanted to grill out to celebrate our first night with all of us in the house. They picked up chicken, corn on the cob, and stuff to make a green salad. None of us had ever run the grill before so that was going to be interesting. I was just hoping that none of us ended up getting hurt.

I volunteered to put Tanya to bed while Bella got a shower in. It had only taken us a couple of days of Tanya and Leah being in the house to get back our new found sex life. I was really glad for it too. She had talked to her therapist on the phone a couple of times since the first time we'd been together. In all, the three of us were thrilled that it had not triggered any repressed memories and it looked like she was going to get through everything just fine. Her therapist and her decided that she really didn't need to see anyone on a regular basis here but she would always be available to Bella via the phone should she ever need to talk. We celebrated half the night that night, well, after we got Tanya to bed.

I had tired Tanya out by playing with her and helping her practice her walking. It wasn't going to be too long before she was taking her first step on her own without one of us holding her up or her holding onto a piece of furniture. So I was already waiting for Bella in bed when she came out of the bathroom. I had already locked the door. Not that Leah would be dumb enough to just walk in, but Bella said it would be a good habit to get into for when Tanya was older.

She smiled when she came out and found me lying there in nothing but my boxers. I loved the way that she giggled as she stripped off her robe and crawled, naked, up the bed and straddled my legs. My girlfriend was surprisingly very confident in the bedroom and I really, really loved it. I loved the way that together we discovered what turned us both on. There was so much more that we had to learn and it was going to be fun discovering all of our likes and dislikes together, in an environment built on mutual trust and love.

One of the things that I liked the most is when she sat on me, right where she was right now, and explored my body with her hands. I loved the feeling of her hands running through my hair and down my chest. Hell, I loved the feeling of my hands exploring her chest. That was always good to illicit a moan from her and get her squirming. It was the best feeling when she was sitting right where she was right now. Almost as great as being inside of her and tonight it wasn't going to be too long before we got to that point. I think it was time we discovered what they called 'make up sex'. I mean we did have an argument earlier.

A/N:

Happy Sunday! I signed up to write something for fandom for Colorado. I'm probably going to write an outtake for ASL but I am not sure yet. Suggestions are welcome. Thank you so much to everyone that is reading this. Enjoy!


	4. Chapter 4

OOO Chapter 4

Visits

It was amazing how quickly August came and with it Tanya's first birthday was coming up. We had decided to have a little party for here instead of flying back to Washington. Classes were set to start soon and we were all still getting used to our new home. Tanya had settled into her new home well. I think her favorite part, besides the swing in the back yard, was going to the beach. She loved playing in the water and the sand just as much as Bella did. We had taken her there several times and she always got fussy when it was time to take her home. I think Bella's favorite part was being back in warm weather. Although, I don't think that any of us really missed the cool damp summers that Forks always gave us.

She was now fully mobile and able to walk on her own. She took her first steps about a week after Jasper and Jess moved in. We were all sitting in the living room when he got up to get some ice cream. Tanya had been playing on the floor in front of the couch when he came back into the room and flopped into the chair that was close to the couch. She must have really wanted that ice cream because all of a sudden she pulled herself up, holding on to the couch and made her way over to him. It was only two steps from the edge of the couch to the chair but she took the steps without any help from anyone. We were all there to see her do it. But draw back to that, she hasn't sat still since.

My parents were coming down for the party along with Charlie, Sue, Seth, and Rose. She still had a couple weeks before she moved into her dorm in South Carolina and wanted to see Jasper one more time before she left. Tanya's birthday wasn't until Saturday, which was still a couple of days away but they all flew in this afternoon. I had a hell of a time getting out of my mother's grip until she caught sight of Tanya and then practically wrestled Sue to the ground to get the baby away from her. Ok, maybe it wasn't that bad but it was extremely funny.

We had gotten into a comfortable rhythm in the house and sharing all the housekeeping responsibilities. While there were a few minor issues that arose in the beginning, in all, it was a pretty easy transition for all of us. The biggest problem that we had was when Jessica came waltzing out of her room, half asleep one morning wearing just a tank top and her underwear. I don't think that she even realized what she was wearing, or how little she was wearing until Bella said something to her. She tried to do it diplomatically but we could all see that Bella was really pissed that she was parading around practically naked. We quickly made the rule that everyone needed to be covered in the main areas of the house even if it meant going out and buying a house coat. She claimed that it was inappropriate for Tanya to live in a nudist colony but Jasper and I thought that it was more about me than a one year old little baby. What it really boiled down to was that Bella was still a little bit self conscious about her scars. She had nothing to worry about; I wasn't interested in anyone but her. I had never been interested in anyone until her.

"Edward?" Bella called me from in the house. I was currently in the back yard pushing Tanya on the baby swing.

"Yeah?" I called back.

She walked outside, "Can you clean her up and get her changed for dinner while I take a quick shower?"

"Sure." I had not realized that it had gotten so late so I grabbed the baby from the swing and followed Bella inside. Our families wanted to take us out to dinner tonight to spend some time with us. They were also going to take us to get our books for our classes while they were here. Mom had invited Jessica to go with us but she politely declined. She had to work this afternoon and then she had her AA meeting. We were all proud of her for continuing with the meetings here. Her sponsor back home had helped her find a sponsor here, at least to start with. She was still less than a year sober and likely for her to slip. She was really determined to succeed and I could see it happening for her. One thing in her favor was that she was able to find a job right away. There was a hair salon not to far away that was looking for someone to shampoo clients and they hired her on. After only a couple weeks there she already started talking about going to school to learn to be a hair stylist. I even saw a brochure in the living room one day but she hasn't said anymore about it and Bella and I decided that we didn't want to pressure her.

It took about a half an hour, but I finally got the squirming toddler dressed in the dress that Mom brought her and that Bella had laid out for me to put on her. By the time I was done our parents were here and waiting for us. I made my Mom happy by handing her Tanya and going to my room to get ready to go. I walked in a found Bella standing in front of the bathroom mirror, putting on her makeup, and wearing nothing but a slip.

She was so beautiful. I could have stood there and watched her all night. We'd been able to have a couple dates, out alone, since Tanya has been here. It was Jasper that had volunteered to babysit both times saying that we needed a break and needed to get out of the house. And besides, he said, that is why they were all living with us, to babysit.

A/N:

The fandom lost a great family member yesterday when Mad4hugh was killed in a traffic accident at ComicCon. It is heartbreaking for those that knew her personally, or talked to her often on twitter, as I did. She will be missed terribly. There is a compilation being put together and the money raised will go to her family to help with the costs of the funeral. They are asking for a minimum donation of only $5. Please consider donating to help them. I will have the link on my profile by the end of the day. I am heartbroken and will miss talking with her. She was a very nice lady.

On to happier news, I have started writing a new story titled "Assumptions". I should have the first chapter off to Sweetpea123 to beta by the weekend and hope to start posting next weekend. I will give you guys the summary in a couple days. This story however is unbeta'd and all mistakes and thing that make you go, "huh" are completely my fault. See you in a few days.


	5. Chapter 5

OOO 5

Bella POV

Dinner was a messy event but then again it usually was these days. Tanya was feeding herself using her fingers. The use of silverware was still a ways off, I guess. So everything went from her plate to her hands to her mouth, including her current favorite food, spaghetti. It took several baby wipes to get the red stains off of her face and hands before we left the restaurant. We all headed back to our house to hang out before our parents went back to their hotel for the night.

Seth and Rose were staying with us for the weekend. I think Rose really missed us more than she was willing to admit. She was the last of us left in Forks since Emmett had to report to Lincoln for summer practice and training.

Dad and Sue were completely absorbed by Tanya and weren't paying attention to anything besides her. If fact, they had stopped watching the movie with us or even pretending to follow along with our conversation anymore and they moved to the floor to play with her and give her their undivided attention. Then they insisted on being the ones to put her to bed.

As soon as our parents left for their hotel for the night, we girls disappeared into Jess and Leah's bedroom for some girl time. Rose didn't waste a second. The second the door was closed she pounced on me, "Have you had sex with him yet?" I blushed like crazy, "Oh my God! You totally have! Tell me everything-wait not everything just the important details. Like were you ok?"

"It was amazing and I was absolutely fine. It was actually really easy to just block out everything from my mind except for Edward and me and being in the moment."

"I'm so happy for you that it went well!" She jumped up and grabbed me into a hug. She continued to try to get me to talk about it but I really wasn't going to divulge many personal details. I wasn't as open about my sex life as she and Emmett were. And there was no way that I was going to let on to Jess and Leah that we'd had sex all over the house before they got here. I bleached and sanitized the place like crazy afterwards but what they didn't know wouldn't hurt any of us.

We talked and gossiped until two in the morning when we were all having trouble staying awake. I got up and said my good nights only to get teased about going back to Edward instead of sleeping with the girls. I turned back to them and laughed, "Really? I have a handsome man in the other room that I could have naked in ten seconds when I get in bed and you think I should stay here with you three? I totally don't think so. See you in the morning."

I checked on Tanya on my way to bed. She was sound asleep and lightly snoring. I quietly crept through the living room where Seth was sleeping on the couch. I had plans to wake Edward and I really didn't need to know anyone was awake and moving around the house.

Edward stirred as I slept into bed and he moved to wrap his arms around me. His eyes popped open when he realized that I was completely naked. I knew that I had shocked him with my level of comfort when it comes to our sex life. I shock myself with it all the time. I couldn't believe how amazing it felt. Leah and Rose told me that it would be, but I was so scared for so long. By the time that Edward and I got here I knew that we were ready to take that step. I was right in that as soon as Edward found me naked he stripped off the boxers that he slept in and climbed on top of me. It was so hard to remember to keep quiet sometimes and sometimes I just didn't realize that we'd gotten a little loud until someone, like Jasper refused to make eye contact with me when we came out of our room in the morning. But none of them had said anything about us bothering them or anything so I guess that we were alright.

My phone went off at seven in the morning making me groan. I decided to just close my eyes again and ignore it but I felt Edward lean across me to grab the phone off my nightstand.

"Hello?" He said still standing half asleep. "Yeah. Sure. See you in an hour. Bye Charlie. Your Dad wants us to join him and Sue for breakfast."

He kissed my shoulder as he got up out of bed and headed for the bathroom. I was momentarily mortified that Edward had answered my phone when we were obviously still in bed together but Dad didn't need to hear that we were sleeping together.

I rolled over and must have fallen back asleep because I was woken by a knock on the door. I yelled to whoever it was to come in and was surprised to find that it was Esme.

"Are you alright dear?"

"Yeah. I had a late night hanging out with the girls."

"Nice cover and I would have believed that if my son wasn't walking around here half asleep."

"Oh God!" I moaned.

"I was mortified the first time that my mother found out that I was having sex with Carlisle and we were married at the time." She laughed. "I just came in to tell you that we are stealing your daughter for the day and letting you and Edward have a day to yourself. Edward said that the beach is a great place to take her. He's packing a bag for her right now."

"She loves the water." I almost launched into a list of instructions on taking care of Tanya and keeping her safe but bit my tongue. Esme had not only babysat Tanya a lot but she did a damn good job raising Edward and Alice. Plus she'd be with Dad and Sue so there was going to be plenty of adults to watch over her. I crawled out of bed as Esme walked out of the room and threw on my bathrobe. I didn't think that there was anyone left in the family that was in doubt of my sex life with Edward so I guess there was no point in trying to hide it anymore.

I got to the living room just as Edward was coming out of Tanya's room with her and her beach bag. I grabbed her and gave her a big kiss and a hug before handing her my Dad who kissed me on the cheek. They were gone a few minutes later as were the rest of our housemates. Jasper had gone to the beach to spend the day with his sister and Leah and Jess were both off to work for the day. It was rare that we found ourselves alone in the house but we weren't about to waste a second of our day to ourselves.

A/N:

This is unbeta'd so all mistakes are mine. I need to tell you guys that I have a one shot that I will be allowed to post on the 22nd. I also wrote a Post-BD canon one-shot that I am considering using for my submission to the Colorado Wildfire Compilation. I haven't quite made a final decision as I haven't found anything else to write for it. I am writing another Tanya outtake from FYH for the compilation for Gisela (Mad4Hugh). The links for both compilations are on my profile page. Lastly, I have a new story that I am going to start posting next Saturday named Assumptions. Here is the summary: Bella has always assumed that Charlie never loved her or

wanted her and everyone knows what happens when you assume things.


	6. Chapter 6

OOO Chapter 6

Birthdays and Anniversaries

EPOV:

The whole house looked like the Hundred Acre Wood threw up all over it. Bella had dragged me to the party supply store a couple of weeks ago and bought everything that she could find that had anything at all to do with Winnie the Pooh. Then she ordered about a million balloons that we would have to pick up today. Correction: she ordered balloons that I was going to have to pick up today. There was a huge list of things on my to do list that Bella handed me before she left this morning. I don't have a single clue where she went; all I know is that she is with Tanya and Charlie and they promised to be back as soon as they could.

The house was clean so I took off to the store to pick up the cake and a few last minute things for the bbq we were having. Bella had originally planned to make Tanya's cake herself but we convinced her to buy one at the store instead. She was a good cook but had never decorated a cake and I knew that she was going to so hard on herself if it didn't work out. She finally agreed to try her hand at decorating when the stakes weren't so high and cameras were less likely to be involved.

Jasper volunteered to go with me and with him I got Rose which meant a few extra bags of chips and more ice cream than I had intended to get or that we needed. Then she picked out several packages of cookies. I was always shocked at how much but Jasper wasn't even phased by it. I mean, how did she eat like that and keep her skinny figure.

We finally made it back to the house to drop off the groceries and Bella wasn't back yet. I was just about to take off to get the balloons when Jasper and Jessica volunteered to go while Rose, Leah, and I got the food ready to go. I opened my computer and left it running on the counter for when Alice's call came in. Skype was the only way that she was going to get to come to the party.

I had just finished making the last of the hamburger patties and put them in the fridge when Bella and Charlie walked in the door. Right away I could see that she'd been crying and I made to beeline for her but Charlie stopped me and told me that she was alright but to give her a little space for a bit. I grabbed Tanya out of her arms and took her to her room to get her dressed for her party. Bella had bought a new dress for her to wear. By the time I had her diaper changed and got her dress on her Bella was coming in the room to help. She pulled some red ladybug bows out of a box on the dresser and proceeded to fix Tanya's hair while I held the baby still.

"I'm fine." She finally said.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes. I today is my daughter's first birthday, but it is always one year ago today that my Mom killed herself."

"Shit. I totally forgot all about that."

"Wish I could. Dad and I went to a church and lit a candle for her. That's where we were. Mom was raised Catholic and even though she never raised me to be religious it just felt like the right thing to do. Then we went for a walk in the park. I'm sorry I wasn't here to help you today. I feel bad about that."

"Don't. What you were doing was just as important and I'm glad that you did it with Tanya and Charlie. It should have been just the three of you. Now, I don't know about you but I am getting hungry. Why don't we go start the grill and get this party started?"

"That sounds like a brilliant idea to me." She leaned in and kissed me before grabbing Tanya out of my arms. It was amazing to me sometimes at how these two girls had become my whole life.

I found my parents already sitting in the backyard with Charlie, Sue, James and Victoria and each of them had a beer in their hands, "Ok. Who brought the liquor to the baby's birthday party? I know that I didn't buy those."

"I did." Charlie smiled. "It's not normal to have a family BBQ without beer." We all laughed at him while he shrugged. I kissed Bella on the cheek and then walked over to the grill and started getting it ready. Dad came over to help as did Charlie and Jasper. There was a small discussion about the best way to stack the coals, and then we had a tiny argument about how much lighter fluid was too much and how much was too little. Finally I just lit a match and threw it in the grill setting off a fire ball and ended all the debates. It was my house and my grill and it was my say. Well, Jasper's too, I guess, but in my mind it was more mind because he really didn't care about grilling or shit like that, as he put it. That was too domestic for him at this point in his life and he just wanted to be young, careless, and free. I told him that he sounded like and old eighties song and he flipped me off.

As Bella came out onto the patio carrier the platter of hamburgers and hotdogs I took a look around the yard at our family. Tanya was having fun toddling around the yard with Seth, Rose, and Sue. Charlie and Dad were back to sitting at the table drinking more beers and Mom, Leah, and Jess were gossiping about the latest happenings in Forks that they'd miss out on. It made me smile. This was my family. The only person missing was Alice and that worried me. I looked at my watch and realized that it was already two here which meant that it was ten at night in Paris and she should have called by now. I sighed when I realized that she was probably not going to call and this was going to be the first in a long list of family get-togethers that my sister was going to miss out on.

A/N

This is unbeta'd and unedited and all fuckups are mine.

Ok. I am going to start posting my new story on Saturday. It's called Assumptions. I will also be able to post a one-shot I wrote for no kid hungry on Sunday.

I am also donating stories to Compilations for Gisela's (mad4hugh) family to help with funeral expenses and for Colorado wildfires. One will be a Tanya outtake from FYH which will start with finding out that the wedding is off and the other will be a Charlie outtake from Breaking Dawn.


	7. Chapter 7

OOO Chapter 7

Books and Babes and Byes

I finally got a call from Alice the next morning. Apparently one of her teachers surprised her by announcing that it was her turn to help in the restaurant kitchen along with another student. I started to congratulate her but she cut me off saying that she and Alec spent the night chopping onions and peeling potatoes and getting yelled at because they could do it right. She told me that by the time they were able to leave they were so exhausted they fell asleep the moment they hit the apartment. Alec told her that one of the sous chefs told him that it was all a lesson to show the students how far they still had to go to learn to be great chef and it all started at the bottom. Tonight she was on dishwasher duty. I told her to make sure she wore comfortable shoes.

She was sorry that she missed the party but I told her that I'd send her files with all the pictures we took and the video of Tanya eating her cake. I wished that I could have talked to her longer but I had to let her go when Alec came and told her that it was time for them to head to the restaurant. Jasper didn't like the guy but I didn't see anything wrong with him. Every time I encountered him while talking to Alice he was always polite and respectful to both of us. I think his problem was that Leah and Jessica were going on and on about how sexy they thought Alec was. Yeah, I trust Bella, too, but I wouldn't be happy either if she was thousands of miles away from me and living in the same apartment as another guy.

I let her go and went to finish getting ready to go out with our family. We were going to the campus bookstore and then out to lunch. Bella and I had two classes this semester together, a math requirement and an English one. Jasper was in our English class as well. Between Leah, Jess, James and Victoria we had plenty of sitters on hand to watch Tanya for us while we were in class so we weren't worried about that. Bella had also had a couple of night classes which I didn't have during which I'd have Tanya with me.

I was prepared for the how expensive the books were, Bella and I had researched that when we were talking about schools. It was crazy how expensive they were. What I wasn't prepared for were the coeds that were following me around the store. Charlie and Sue went off in one direction with Bella and Tanya while I went another with my parents. Every so often I'd hear giggling only to look up and see a couple of girls staring at me. I was glad that none of them approached me until Mom and Dad walked away from me and left me on my own. Then my luck ran out and one girl got brave.

"Hey there, I'm Emma. There's this big party tonight at one of the frat houses and I thought it would be really fun if we went together."

"DA!" I smiled as I heard Tanya's voice right behind me. I turned to see Jasper standing there holding her out to me.

"Bella ran to the bathroom. I volunteered to bring her to you."

"Emma. This is my daughter Tanya." I didn't need to go any further; Emma was already backing up and looking for an escape route. She made an excuse that she saw a friend and took off. I turned to Jasper, "Is Bella really in the bathroom?"

"No. I just thought you needed a little help getting rid of all the unwanted attention before Bella caught on and got upset. Remember, your future father in law is here and he is not someone you want to piss off." I laughed, that was Jasper. He was always looking out for people. It worked though and Emma must have spread the word about me having a baby because I lost all the unwanted attention and gigglers that were following me around.

"Those girls were too obvious and it was pissing me off."

"What?"

"You've been in the pre-med section the whole time. They were looking to land a future doctor, Edward." Rose said coming up to us. "By the way, Bella knows exactly what you were up to, Jasper, and she wants her daughter back."

We all ended up paying an average of about six hundred dollars for our books. I felt sorry for our parents because this was just the beginning. We had several more semesters of buying books at these costs ahead of us.

Lunch was a sad affair because we all knew that our weekend together was over. We'd be driving them straight to the airport from the restaurant and the next time we'd see them wouldn't be until Thanksgiving. Seeing as it was only the beginning of August now, that was almost four months away.

Mom and Dad started talking about how they decided to remodel the upstairs this Fall, "So is my room the new gym or did you decide to go with Alice's? I think her room was a little bigger than mine."

"We are not taking away your rooms, just updating them. Mostly your Mom is turning the guest room into a room for Tanya for when you visit." That surprised me. I hadn't given one thought to where the three of us would be staying when we went back to visit.

Saying goodbye at the airport was a tearful experience for all of us. Rose even hugged me before she boarded the plane, "You were an ass most of the time we were growing up but you are good with them, but you hurt her in any way and I'll castrate you." And there was the Rose that we all knew and loved.

"Totally and say hi to Emmett for us."

"Will do!" And then she was gone onto the plane. She was stopping in Nebraska to see him on her way to school.

I looked over and found Bella trying to get Tanya back from Charlie who looked like he was trying to find a way to get on the plane with her and take her back to Forks but Bella was onto him big time.

A/N:

Happy Monday! I hope everyone is staying cool enough. I can tell you from being a college student recently, that text books are really expensive. I've had to pay $3-400 for ONE book before. That is part of the reason that college students acquire so much debt. $600 was a little bit modest for a full load of classes.

Next update…I have no idea. I need to finish a couple other things before I do more here. Assumptions Chapter 1 posted and so did my one-shot, Paths Not Taken. I still have to finish Assumptions ch 3, by Saturday and one two other one shots to work on too that I have deadline for. Thanks for reading!


	8. Chapter 8

OOO Chapter 8

Strange New World

I was so thankful that Edward and I had taken the time the other day to come to campus and walk around and get to know our way around campus. I was running a little late by the time that I made it to campus and was rushing to get to my first class on time. I had a really hard time leaving Tanya this morning. It wasn't that I didn't trust Edward not to take excellent care of her, I had just gotten really spoiled over the summer by being with her nearly every waking hour. It was hard to face reality this morning but she and Edward sent me off to school with a kiss from each of them.

His first class wasn't until this afternoon. It started just after mine let out. I was going to have ten minutes to get from my building to his. But that was still going to cut it close. I walked into my class, History of Architecture and Urban Design, and took an empty seat toward the front of the class. I had been really excited that this was going to be my first college class. It wasn't long before someone sat in the chair next to me.

"Hi! I'm Renata." I looked up and found a pretty girl with red hair sitting there.

"I'm Bella."

"Are you from LA?"

"No. I grew up in Phoenix with my Mom until I moved to Washington a year ago to live with my Dad."

"Ahh. I've always lived here but I chose to live in the dorms to get the whole college experience. Which dorm are you in? I'm in Hedrick Summit."

"I'm living off campus. My boyfriend and I are renting a house nearby."

"That is cool. There is no way that my parents would allow me to move in with anyone that I was seeing. Of course they didn't like the last date I brought home. Too many piercings and tattoos."

"My dad likes Edward. He was actually happy when I started dating him."

"What about your mom? Doesn't she like him?"

"She died a year ago."

"I'm sorry. Oh, duh, that's why you moved to your Dad's. I'm a bit scattered today. It's so overwhelming starting college."

"I know. I had a hard time getting out of the house."

Then the professor walked in and started the class. First he passed out the syllabus and explained in excruciating detail what he expected out of us before diving into chapter one.

"I'm thinking we are going to need to start a study group, are you interested?"

"Yeah, I am."

"I'm done with classes at noon. You want to me up and get some lunch?"

"Sure, I just have to meet my boyfriend at his anatomy class and get our daughter from him."

"You have a baby?" She exclaimed in shock. "I'm surprised that your dad still likes him. Mine would commit murder if I came home pregnant." She commented as we walked out of the building.

"Oh…uh…Edward isn't her biological father, he's in jail. Edward, I met when I moved to Forks. He's been there for us a lot and is really amazing with her."

"Sounds like you found yourself a winner, you lucky girl."

"Yeah, I am lucky."

"So, what is your daughter's name and how old is she?"

"Her name is Tanya and she just turned one."

"How cute!" After talking about our classes we discovered that our last classes for the day were in the same building so we decided to meet at the door of the building and go get Tanya together.

My other two classes went about the same as the first one did and I already had a ton of reading to do. Before I knew it, Renata and I were on our way to get Tanya. We found Edward and her on the lawn of the building, he was sitting on a blanket next to her and they were playing with her stuffed dog. He would put it up to her face like it was kissing her and she would laugh.

"MA!" She squealed and started clapping when she saw me walking up to her. I grabbed her and gave her a big hug and kiss before giving Edward a kiss." I introduced him to Renata and told him about our afternoon plans. He told me that he'd already fed her before they left home so I didn't have to worry about her.

"Why do you two smell like sunscreen?"

"I took her to the beach to play so she'll tale a good nap for you this afternoon. I gotta go. See you at home. You want me to pick up dinner?"

"No. I'll cook." With a kiss to my cheek he was gone.

"Oh my God! He's gorgeous Bella."

"I told you that I knew how lucky I was," I laughed.

"Where do you want to go for lunch?" She asked as I packed up the blanket into the bag he'd brought.

"There's a Baja Fresh near my house that Edward and I have fallen in love with. We can grab some and take it back to my place and hang out there that way Tanya can play while we eat and talk."

"Sounds good to me. How about you tell me what you want and I'll grab it and meet you at your house so you don't have to drag her in and out of the car."

"You sound like you have experience with kids."

"I'm the oldest of eight. No, nine. Mom just told us that she's pregnant again."

"That's a big family."

"And it's also why I insisted on living in the dorms. It's sad to said that its quieter there than at home."

"So is it just you and Edward at your house."

"No. My step sister, Leah lives with us, as well as our friends Jasper and Jessica."

"That's cool. Do they go to school here too? Or are they at USC?"

"Jasper was goes to school here. We were all accepted to USC but like UCLA a little better. Jess and Leah aren't in school yet. They've been talking about cosmetology school though."

"Are they seeing anyone?"

"Jasper's dating Edward's twin sister."

"I meant Leah and Jess?"

"What?" Did she just ask me what I think she asked me?

She laughed, "I'm gay. I actually sat next to you because I thought you are really pretty and I was hoping there was a chance that you'd be interested but I can see that's definitely a no-go, but I just know that we are going to be the best of friends anyway."

"Oh…well. I'm sorry but they don't swing that way."

"Oh well. Can't blame a girl for trying. Let's get out of here and get some food in us."

A/N:

Bella made a new friend. LOL! And a little bit of daddyward. I love daddywards so much. Thank you for reading!


	9. Chapter 9

OOO Chapter 9

EPOV First day of School

Bella kept putting off leaving until she absolutely had to. It was cute the way that she was so torn between wanting to stay with us and wanting to go to that class. My first class wasn't until the afternoon so I had Tanya until noon. As soon as Bella was finally gone, I made sure that I had my back pack ready to go for this afternoon and then started packing Tanya's beach bag. It was still warm enough to take her to play in the water and I thought that it was a good way to tire her out so she'd take a good nap for Bella this afternoon.

I grabbed Tanya's beach hat out of the bag and put it on her, Lord knows that the girls have yelled at Jasper and I enough about the dangers of Tanya getting a sunburn that there is no way that we were going to forget to put it on her again. I grabbed her buckets and started helping her fill them with sand. Then she pushed it over and dumped the sand back out and we had to start all over again. This was a game that she loved to play. Once she got tired of that game, she would start running her fingers through the sand and throwing handfuls of it and laughing. I don't think that I will ever get tired of hearing her laugh.

"WA!" She started for the water so I picked her up and carried her into the water to play for a bit. She laughed some more as the waves came and splashed over us.

A couple hours later she was rubbing her ears and getting fussy which was how she would let us know that she was hungry. I packed up our stuff and returned to my car to go home for lunch.

I cleaned her up when we got home and then I made her one of those Gerber toddler spaghetti meals and made myself a sandwich and grabbed us some watermelon to share. She was crazy about watermelon these days. You just had to make sure that there were no seeds hiding in there before you gave it to her.

I put her in one those sundresses that Bella had gone crazy about when we went shopping last week. The kid was seriously outgrowing all of her clothes. I had no idea that babies could grow this much this fast. It wasn't just clothes either, she outgrew her shoes too.

I checked her diaper bag to make sure that it was stocked since I didn't know what Bella had planned for this afternoon and then we took off for campus.

We sat on a blanket and played with that stuffed god that I bought her so many months ago. It hasn't even been a year since I met them in the NICU, almost but not quite.

After Bella left with Tanya and that red head she had met, I ran into my class room and found a chair. The professor wandered in and started class. She only kept us long enough to explain the syllabus and her expectations of us.

As we were all putting our things in our bags to leave she touched my shoulder, "Can you talk for a moment?"

"Sure."

As soon as everyone was gone she sat on her desk and faced me, "You're Edward, right?" I nodded. "I saw you when I was coming in here. You have a beautiful daughter."

"Thanks."

"This anatomy class is pretty basic but it still requires a lot of work. I assume that you are pre-med, right?"

"Yes, I am. I want to work in NICU's."

"That's admirable, but I wonder how you are prepared to balance parenthood with your educational responsibilities."

"Between Bella, that's her mother, me, and our friends, we should have everything covered."

"Really?"

"Yeah. We brought three live in sitters with us and our landlords are dying to get their hands on her."

"Good. I just wanted to be sure that you were prepared. I've seen single parents succeed at becoming doctors, it is not impossible although it will seem that way sometimes. If you need anything, do not hesitate to come and talk to me, ok?"

"Thanks Professor Martin." I grabbed my things and took off for my next class. By the time that I got home I was starving and exhausted. I walked into the kitchen to find Bella standing at the counter putting the finishing touches on a chocolate cake that she had obviously baked this afternoon.

"That looks good," I said coming up behind her and kissing her neck.

"I was craving chocolate cake."

"I meant the baker, but the cake looks good too."

"You are crazy. So how were your classes?"

"Good. It looks like I'm going to have a busy semester."

"Me too."

"You and your new friend have a good afternoon?"

"We did. She helped me bake the cake. I really like her."

"I'm glad you met someone in your classes. Everyone in mine were almost anti-social."

"I'm sorry about that."

"Maybe when we all get comfortable with the class," I shrugged. "Where's Tanya?"

"In the living room with Leah. Dinner will be ready in a half hour if you want to clean up first."

"Yes, mommy."

"Don't go there, bub." I laughed and walked out of the room giving both Leah and Tanya kisses on the tops of their heads as I walked to our room to take a shower.

Leah and Jess were excited to hear about our first day of classes and they weren't the only ones. My parents, Bella's parents, and Alice all called us to tonight. I was missing Alice more and more these days and wished like hell that she would be able to come home in November but it wasn't going to happen. Things were going better for her in her classes though. She had impressed her teachers with some sauce that she'd made perfectly, which I guess was a sauce that was really hard to master.

Bella and I crawled into bed together around midnight, after spending a couple hours working on homework and I pulled her to me and held her as we fell asleep. I knew that my professor was right and the next few years were going to be tough but together Bella and I would make it through to the other side.

A/N:

I really didn't mean for it to take this long for me to update. I am so sorry but chronic migraines suck big time. I'm headed to the doctor tomorrow so maybe she can help me end this. But I gave you some Daddyward. I hope that makes up for the delay! I hope to update again this weekend. Just so you guys know, I am planning on frequent time jumps in this story. There are a lot of things that I want to cover and don't want to end up with a 500 chapter story. LOL. Thanks for reading!


	10. Chapter 10

OOO Chapter 10

Our Little Ladybug

EPOV:

I had a rude awakening when it came to school. In Forks, I was the smartest kid in the school next to Bella. But here, that wasn't exactly the case. Here everyone was extremely smart and extremely competitive. It wasn't like I was failing but I wasn't used to having to work so hard to get A's. I know understood why my professor was concerned on that first day. It was a struggle for Bella and I to find a way to balance taking care of Tanya and keeping up on our schoolwork. It was a struggle that led us to a few arguments. I had never considered that there would be nights that Bella and I would both have tests to study for, all of our friends were busy, and Tanya was either sick or demanding our attention. We finally managed to devise a system that worked for us.

Bella's new friend Renata ended up being a great addition to our group. It turned out that her last class was closer to my building than Bella's so she would come get Tanya and start walking with her to meet up with Bella. It also allowed me to get into class with enough time to review notes and get settled before the professor show and started class.

Then there was the fact that we were both missing our families. We talked to most of them regularly on Skype but it wasn't the same. Alice is the only one that we didn't get to talk to regularly. She was always so busy with school and working at the school's restaurant that she frequently missed Skype dates. In all honesty, she always looked completely exhausted whenever we did get to talk to her. She was the same way with Jasper too. He understood and said that he expected it but it didn't make him miss her any less. He had decided to surprise her with a visit for Thanksgiving. She was going to be thrilled to see him.

Tanya was growing so much. She was fifteen months old and getting into everything. James, Bella, and I had spent an entire Saturday baby proofing the house. I was glad that our house was only one level so we didn't have to worry about her falling down stairs but there were so many more things that she could get into. Every cabinet now had a lock. Then we decided that there should be locks on the bedroom doors as well. We definitely didn't want her getting away from us and getting into someone's room. Or walk in on something she shouldn't. I mean, if Bella and I were having sex in the house then we really couldn't ask our friends not to. We did ask that they refrain from parading a bunch of men through the house. We were aiming our request at Leah and Jess since Jasper wasn't going to bring any girls home unless Alice managed to visit.

Not only was she walking better and going everywhere, Tanya was also talking more. Mom actually cried the first time that we got on Skype and Tanya called her Nana. As more words were creeping into her vocabulary we were increasingly more careful about what we said around her. She wasn't mimicking us yet but our parents all warned us that it was coming.

She was also developing quite the independent streak that according to Charlie was just like Bella. She wanted to feed herself. She'd get really mad and scream if anyone tried to help her until she was ready to accept help. She would also try to wash herself, but the wet washcloths tended to be a little heavy for her and she'd give up on that after only a few minutes. She had so many teeth now that Bella was really pushing the solid food. There were things that we had to do at meal times that I had never considered, like not only did we have to cut hotdogs into tiny pieces but we had to peel them as well. I didn't even know that you could peel one. It was a hot dog, not a banana.

But that is what I was doing right now, peeling hot dogs and bananas for Tanya's dinner while Bella finished making the mac and cheese. Alice would have a fit if she knew we were eating boxed macaroni and cheese but we didn't have time to get that fancy with meals on most nights. Besides, we had big plans for tonight. It was Halloween and Bella and I were taking Tanya trick or treating for the first time.

As soon as we were done eating Bella and Leah took Tanya into her room to clean her up and get her into her costume while I cleaned up the kitchen. Jasper and Jess were already gone for the evening. Alice had missed their last three Skype dates and he decided that he was going to get out and enjoy being young and in college. One of his friend's from school was having a party and invited Jasper to come and have fun. The only thing was that he didn't want to go alone so he asked Leah and Jess if they wanted to come with him. We were all surprised when it Jess that accepted his invitation Leah declined, the only thing that she wanted to do was watch scary movies and pass out candy. She confided in Bella later that she really wanted to test herself, to see if she could be at party that had people drinking and be able to stay sober. She was not only going to be the designated driver for the two of them but she was also going to keep the 'drunken college tramps' away from Jasper. Especially if he decided to start drinking himself.

I was just starting the dishwasher when the door bell rang with our first trick or treaters. I grabbed the bowl of candy off the table and handed some out three kids dressed as a knife, a fork, and a spoon. The girls were coming out of Tanya's room as I was shutting the door. She looked so cute in her ladybug costume. After taking dozens of pictures of Tanya in her costume, while attempting to get her to leave her headband with the antennae alone, Bella and I left to take her around the neighborhood.

Our landlord's house was our first stop. I had always loved Halloween as a kid but this was completely different. Taking Tanya around so much more fun than I remembered trick or treating being when I was a kid. I was kind of sorry to see the night end.

Leah, who had stayed behind at the house to hand out candy while we were gone, let us in the house and took off with Tanya while Bella and I sorted through the candy. Bella made three piles, the stuff that was safe for Tanya, not safe for Tanya, and not safe for anyone.

"We need a fourth pile that included the stuff that nobody ever ate. I mean who the hell bought some of this shit?"

Bella laughed, "I know. I've never seen some of this stuff before in my life and I grew up in the big city and haven't been stifled by the limited life experiences that come from growing up in Forks."

I picked up a gummy Spongebob and threw it at her.

She laughed and ducked it before picking up a piece of candy and chucking it at me effectively starting a candy war.

"Hey! No kinky foreplay in the common living areas!" Leah laughed at us as she walked into the kitchen.

"Ha, ha! You're just jealous." Bella teased her back as she grabbed my face and kissed me.

"I need a fucking life and a boyfriend...maybe just a vibrator." Leah said as she grabbed a soda out of the fridge and returned to the living room.

A/N:  
Happy Wednesday! A little time jump there. Again, there will be a lot of them. I want to assure you that nothing is going to happen between Jess and Jasper. She was honest with her reasons for going to the party.

Next update will be as soon as I finish Assumption chapter 5. So probably this weekend. No promises though.


	11. Chapter 11

OOO Chapter 11

Home

EPOV:

As the plane descended into SeaTac I tightened my hold on Tanya so she didn't slip off my lap during the landing. Since she was only one, Bella, Leah, and I were able to switch off holding her through the flight instead of having to pay for an extra ticket. Sue and Charlie were driving up in their van to get us take us back to Forks even though Bella, Tanya, and I were staying with my parents. Except for one night, we promised Charlie and Sue they could keep Tanya for the night to spend time with her.

I had dropped Jasper off at the airport last Saturday. He had talked to his professors and they didn't mind him missing the couple days of class. He was thrilled to be able to have so much time to spend with Alice. I kind of wished that I was going. I missed my sister. Jessica had decided that she had no reason to waste money on a plane ticket to Forks just to spend the holiday with either of her parents. She maintained that there was nothing for her in Forks anymore and had no intention of ever returning.

We had agreed to meet at the baggage pickup. Charlie said that he'd use his authority as a police chief if he had to but he wasn't about to mere pick us up at the curb. I was kind of grateful for the two extra pairs of hands. Besides having four suitcases we also had a stroller, a car seat, and our carry-ons to lug through the airport. We had a hell of a time in LAX.

The drive from Seattle to Forks was spent with Charlie and Sue asking us how school was and how we liked living in Los Angeles and if we had thought about coming home for Christmas. Bella and I had talked about it. We thought that we'd come home for Christmas but not spend the entire break in Forks.

We had planned to meet my parents at the diner for dinner. Walking in I remember the last time that we'd eaten there. It was the night before Bella and I had left for California. As we were shown to our seats, I thought about Emmett who was spending the week preparing for their game in Iowa on Friday. Rose, her parents, and his parents were in Iowa with him. I guess a lot of players had family coming to watch the game, even if as a freshman he didn't get to play.

There was another round of hugs, kisses, and tears when my parents arrived shortly after we had sat down. I had missed my mother's hugs more than I had realized. Dinner was filled with laughter and chatter and before we knew it we were in my parent's car heading home.

Bella and Mom took Tanya upstairs to get her ready for bed while Dad and I carried in the luggage. I walked into my room and was surprised to see that Bella and Tanya were not there. I turned to see Dad standing behind me smiling; "they're in the guest room."

"I thought you guys were ok with Bella sleeping in here with me?" Please, please, PLEASE, don't let them have changed their minds. I didn't want to have to sleep without her.

"Just go look. I promised your mom that I wouldn't say anything to you."

I walked down the hall to the guest room and found that it was now Tanya's room. Mom had redecorated it with daisies and lady bugs. There were pictures of Tanya and us all over the room. I walked around looking at them all. There was a large print of one of the family portraits we had taken as well as a black and white print of Tanya in her Halloween costume. I turned to see Bella standing by the bookshelf with tears streaming down her face as she held a picture frame in her hand. I went over to where she was standing and looked down at the picture and immediately recognized the woman in the picture as being Bella mother. She was sitting with a small Bella in her arms.

"I remember this picture. I was five and we were at the zoo with my class."

"You look cute."

"I hate to interrupt, but this little one is almost asleep," Mom spoke up.

"Thanks Mom. This is amazing."  
"I hope you don't mind the portacrib instead of a real one in here. I didn't think we were going to get enough use out of it. By the time you come back for summer she'll be in a toddler bed."

"That's fine."

"Carlisle? Did you put the gate up?"

"Not yet. I was about to go get it." He gave Tanya a kiss on the forehead and walked out of the room as Mom turned and put Tanya down in the crib.

"I missed doing this so much. You two going to settle in and go to bed now?"

"Yeah, I'm exhausted," I told her as she nodded and walked out the door.

"Your family is so amazing."

We kissed Tanya goodnight ourselves and went back to my room…_our_ room. I took a shower first while Bella unpacked a few things. It was really strange to see her putting her clothes in my closet and dresser but it also felt natural.

Bella was fast asleep next to me but I couldn't seem to relax enough to sleep. I looked at my phone on the table next to the bed and realized that it was one in the morning. I climbed out of bed and quietly made my way downstairs to find Mom sitting at the kitchen counter with a mug of cocoa.

"I made extra if you want some," She offered me as I walked up to her. I nodded as she gestured for me to sit while she got up and poured me a glass.

"I've missed this. Coming down here and finding you with cocoa or tea when I can't sleep."

"I've missed you and your sister. I can't believe she won't be here."

"I know but she's not alone. Jasper went to France to see her."

"I'm worried about her. She seems so distant these days."

"I know. I hate it. Her behavior has been so un-Alice."

"I'm so glad the three of you came home," She grabbed me and hugged me. "I'm sorry. I'm having some kind of empty nest depression going on."

We talked for the next two hours about just about everything about my life with Bella and Tanya in Los Angeles. I finally dragged myself upstairs and fell asleep. I didn't know how Mom was going to get up and start cooking Thanksgiving in a couple of hours; she was going to be exhausted by the end of the day.

A/N:

Happy Sunday! The next update should be in a couple days as I am already plotting it out in my head. I am so eager to write it. I am going to try to get caught up on review replies from all of my stories. If I miss a review that you posted, please understand that I didn't mean to. I like to answer them all.


	12. Chapter 12

OOO Chapter 12

Surprise!

Jasper POV:

My nerves were at defcon 5 as I sat in the back of the taxi making my way toward Alice's apartment. I was exhausted from flying all day but I'd endure flying around the world five times just to see my Alice for five minutes. This separation thing was harder than we realized it would be. It made me insanely jealous of Edward and Bella most of the time. There were times that I would retreat to my room because it was hard to watch them be the happy little family together when I had no idea how long Alice and I were going to end up being separated like this. She was going to be in France for at least two years, maybe four if she's kept on a private protégé. She didn't drop that one on me until after she left. Then we had no idea where she would end up being offered a job. I had seven years of college to get through before I could relocate to wherever she was. And I was willing to go anywhere to be with her and marry her.

I handed the driver some money and stood on the sidewalk with suitcase in my hand while I look up at the lit windows. I take a deep breath and head for the door. I get lucky when someone is leaving and I slip in before the door closes. Her apartment is on the third floor and there is no elevator so I hit the stairs. I got more and more excited with every step that I went up.

I heard laughter inside the apartment as I knocked on the door. The door flew open and the tiny blonde girl I knew to be Jane stood before me, "Oh my God! You are the last person I expect to find at the door. Come on in! Demitri! Jasper's here!"

"What!?" He came out of the kitchen. "Man, she is going to be so stoked when she gets home and finds you here. She's been so homesick lately."

"Really? She's not here?"

"She's at work. They'll be home in about an hour."

"They?"

"She and Alec are on doing prep tonight, which is why they will be home so early. When you're on as a busser you don't get home until like two or three in the morning," Dimitri said offering me a coke. I took it as Jane showed me where Alice's room was. I put my suitcase down at the foot of the bed and looked around the room. She had a ton of pictures everywhere. There were picture of me, us together, her parents, Edward, and Bella and Tanya. There were also a few of some of our favorite places in Forks. It was like she was trying to bring as much of home with her.

Jane and Demitri left soon after that to go to meet up with friends from their classes. They told me that Alec and Alice were planning on meeting up with them after work but they would understand if we didn't make it.

I heard the key turning in the lock and my nerves spiked higher than ever. Then I heard the most glorious sound in my world, Alice's laugh. She walked in the door, saw me standing in her living room and stopped so fast that Alec nearly knocked her down. It took her a split second before she squealed and ran at me, "Best surprise ever!" I wrapped my arms around her and held onto so tight that there was no way that she was able to breathe right now. I looked up as Alec slipped out of the room without a word.

"I missed you so much. I am…you'll never know how much I love that you are here right now," Alice said with tears streaming down her face.

"I've missed you too," I said kissing her, "So have Edward and your parents. We've been worried about you. Lately, you've been a little off. I needed to know that you were alright."

"I am. I'm fine, really," She said as she led me to couch and we sat down, "I just wasn't prepared for how hard it would be to be so far away from you and my family. Sometimes I just hate it and want to come home. I mean, I love my classes and Paris is amazing, I'm just so homesick it makes me physically ill sometimes."

"I know how you feel. I lie in bed at night and think of you and knowing that you are starting a new day just as I'm ending mine doesn't help.

We talked a bit more about how she hated avoiding calling us but knew there was no way that she'd make it through the call without crying and she didn't want to burden us. Alec came out of his room a bit later announcing that he was going to catch up with his sister leaving Alice and I alone in the apartment.

I followed Alice back to her room as she insisted that she needed a shower and I sprawled out on her bed to wait for her. When she came out she crawled up beside me and curled into me. I hadn't felt this at ease since she left. One thing was for certain, she was going to have to take a job in the US when she graduated and I would apply to law school wherever she was because there was no way that I was going to let this separation go on any longer than absolutely necessary.

I asked her if she wanted to go hang out with her friends but she said that she was happy right where she was. So was I. We spent the night kissing and making love slowly, cherishing each other before finally falling asleep. Luckily the next day was Sunday and she didn't have classes nor did she have to work at the restaurant.

She took me to her favorite café for brunch and impressed me with the way that she was fluently and easily able to slip into perfect French as she talked to people. And she always remembered to translate for me. This was going to be the best Thanksgiving ever.

A/N:

This is not the end of the Jasper POV. I am going to alternate between him and the crew that are in Forks for the holiday. I just think that Alice and Jasper have a story to tell right now. And I have had this planned since I decided to send Alice to France in the original story.


	13. Chapter 13

OOO Chapter 13

Going Home Again

I woke up to the sound of someone calling my name, "Sweetie, I'm sorry to wake you but I need help." I was totally surprised to see Esme standing there holding Tanya. I sat up immediately, glad that I was decent, and reached out for my daughter. "I wanted to let you sleep in, but she wouldn't let me put her down and I need to get the turkey in the oven."

I just nodded and stood to follow her out of the room leaving Edward to sleep. "We should have warned you that she is doing this clingy thing right now where she wants to be held all the time."

"How long has that been going on?"

"About two weeks. The good news is that she doesn't care what you are doing while you hold her, she just wants to be held. So we are able to keep studying. The bad news is that she doesn't care what you are doing; she just wants you to hold her. So housework and cooking become impossible.

"Alice was like that for a time. They go through so many stages as they grow. Some will be good and some will be bad. And some will challenge your sanity. I didn't mean to invade your privacy there."

I sat in the kitchen with Esme and talked with her while she cooked. I really loved Esme, she was the best. We had been sitting there for about an hour when Carlisle and Sue came in. They had been calling into the hospital late last night and had been there all night with a patient and they looked so exhausted. I knew that my Dad would be arriving soon with Leah and Seth so I decided that it was probably best to get Tanya and I dressed.

It was going to be a low key affair compared to last year. IT was just Edward's family and mine today. Esme made sure that everyone was aware that today dress code was mandatory and it was extreme casual. She was tired of dressing up for holidays only to stay home and cook. I threw on some yoga pants and a t-shirt ducked back out of the room before we woke Edward. Esme told me about their late night talk over cocoa.

I got back downstairs just as Dad was arriving. He immediately grabbed Tanya from me and I headed to the kitchen to help Esme. Without Alice here this year to run things, the menu was going to be vastly different, simpler. Leah and I started putting together the stuffing while Esme worked on a cake for dessert. Esme had shooed Sue out of the kitchen and told her to sit and relax. She was so relaxed that she had dozed off next to Dad on the couch. The rest of the day flew by in a flurry of fun and food. When Dad left to go home, he took Tanya with him. It was going to be strange to not have her here to put to bed or wake me at the crack of dawn.

Edward and I managed to sleep until after noon and found ourselves alone in the house. Esme had left a note saying that Carlisle was at the hospital and she was shopping with Mrs. Webber in Port Angeles. She had asked me to come along yesterday but I declined. I was not that crazy about shopping and really didn't want to run into Angela. I was glad to have her out of our lives.

Deciding that we were hungry for something other than food, we ran back to his bedroom and enjoyed having not only having the house to ourselves. We stayed there until I had to get up and shower. Edward had a paper that he needed to work on and I was headed to Dad's to watch the game with him. I was looking forward to spending time with just him and Tanya. We haven't been able to do that in so long. Leah was spending the day hanging out with Seth and Sue was at the hospital with Carlisle.

I walked into the house and found Dad and Tanya on the floor and he was trying to get her to throw the ball to him. I don't think she understood what he wanted because she threw the ball on the floor. As soon as she saw me in the doorway she forgot all about the ball and ran for me. I picked her up and carried her and went to sit on the couch, "Don't you think she's a little young to learn to be a pitcher?"

"Never. I'm going to have to have a talk with that boyfriend of yours about working with her when you guys go home. The girl already has an amazing arm on her."

I rolled my eyes, "Grandpa is so silly!" I said tickling Tanya to get her to giggle before turning back to Dad, "So, did you order us pizza?"

"No. Sue made us grilled chicken Caesar salads."

"You're joking right?"

"No, I'm not. Pizza is bad for you. There's way too much sodium in it. You need to stick to a low sodium diet and so do I."

"What?"

"Now I don't want to get all upset and worry about me. I'm just fine."

"Then why are you watching your salt intake?"

"I went for my yearly physical for work last month and they said my blood pressure was a little higher than they like. Carlisle said it's called pre-hypertension."

"Are you on the same medicine that I am?"

"Nope. No medicine. Just watching what I eat and checking my blood pressure whenever I get to the drug store. It's been down lately."

"Really?"

"Really. Now, I'm starving. Let's get those salads. I think there's still some fruit salad left in the fridge."

Dad came back into the room with our salads, the fruit, and two apple juices. I decided not to push the issue. My father had always been honest with me and if he said there was nothing to worry about, then I wasn't going to worry. We sat back and watched the Seahawks play their game.

Dad and I spent the game with him asking me questions about my classes and how we were really doing on my own. Sue came home during the fourth quarter. She sat with us for a couple of minutes before she went upstairs to soak in the tub and relax.

When the game was over I got up to leave to go back to The Cullen's house and Dad helped me carry everything out to the car. Edward and I were driving Alice's car since she had obviously left it behind. I left with promises that we'd see each other tomorrow when he and Sue came over for dinner.

I walked into the house to find Edward sitting on the couch playing video games. He smiled when he saw us walk in, "There's my girls!"

I sat on the floor with Tanya near Edward, "Did you get your homework done?"

"Yep. I've been done for a while. I'm thinking about taking this back with us."

"How are we going to get an Xbox and all the games back to California on a plane along with everything else we dragged with us?"

"Um…I don't know. I didn't quite think about that."

"Are both of your parents home?"

"Dad is. He's upstairs taking a nap. I haven't heard from mom. So how was your afternoon with Charlie?"

We spent the next hour talking and relaxing while he play video games and I played with Tanya. It wasn't unlike some afternoons that we spent in California. There were slight difference but it felt like being home.

A/N:

Ok. I know that I am failing at updates. I'm sorry and I wish that I could say that it is going to get better now, but I can't. My son started high school last Wednesday, which means that I now have to get up at 5:30 to drive him all the way across town to his school only to drive all the back to my office. I went from have a five minute drive to work to have an one hour commute. Then I get to work all day. Oh, and good news! My son's orchestra rehearsals started yesterday and he made first violin. He's thrilled. I will try to update again as soon as I can. The next chapter will be back in France!


	14. Chapter 14

OOO Chapter 14

Exploring

For the first time ever in my life I was waking up to Alice in my arms and we were both completely naked. Sure, we had slept in the same bed before but we'd always made sure that we got dressed. We both feared our parents catching us naked in bed. This was nice. This was something that I could get used to.

I laid there watching her sleep for a half hour before she finally woke up. I hated to get out of the bed but I was hungry and I knew that she had to be as well. We had talked as I held her all night about all the places that she wanted to show me while I was here, including a little café that she'd fallen in love with where she ate breakfast most mornings on her way to school.

We dragged ourselves out of bed and got our clothes on. None of her roommates were up yet as we walked through the apartment and out in the bright sunlight streets of Paris. I took her hand as we walked down the street and Alice gabbered away about anything and everything and was the Alice that I knew and loved. The quiet, withdrawn Alice that her family and I had been seeing for the last couple of months was gone. Maybe it was just a case of homesickness and nothing else.

We had a wonderful day walking around and shopping and sightseeing. That night we stayed in and her and her roommates made dinner. Since it was Sunday, there were no classes and the restaurant was closed. Tomorrow I would be on my own for the majority of the day. I didn't care as long as Alice and I crawled into the same bed at the end of the day. I wasn't blind to the fact that it was going to make going home excruciating. I was choosing temporary ignorance and bliss.

Her roommates were actually really great. I liked them all, especially Alec. He was funny as hell. It appeared that Jane and Demitri were dating from the way that they were hanging all over each other all night. I pulled out my laptop and showed them pictures of Tanya and the house in Los Angeles and everyone at the beach. Alice got a kick out of the costumes that Jessica and I wore to the Halloween Party. I wasn't completely stupid. I told Alice ahead of time that I was going to invite her and Leah along with me.

Over the next few days I roamed around Paris during the day while Alice was in classes and sometimes at night while she was at work at the restaurant. One night I went to a local bar with a couple of her friends that she'd introduced me too. I was having one of the best Thanksgiving breaks that I could remember.

One the night before I was supposed to fly home Alice was supposed to work but traded with Jane to be able to spend the night with me. I was glad that the guy was so agreeable. They had all told me what a strict asshole he could be.

Alice cooked my favorite dinner and we shared a bottle of wine. By the end of the night we were laying on the couch and unable to keep our hands off each other.

"When are your roommates due home tonight?"

"They're not. They are staying with some friends to give us some privacy since this will be the….I mean, we don't know when…."

"Shh…it's ok. We'll find a way Alice. We will make this work. I love you too much not to try harder."

"I love you too Jasper. So much."

I rolled over onto my back taking her with me. As she straddled me, I pulled her down for a kiss. Neither of us were willing to break the kiss until we were absolutely desperate for air. I took the opportunity to pull her shirt off and throw it across the room, careful to avoid getting it too close to the fireplace that we had going. Her bra ended up in the same vicinity before she climbed off me, pulled me up off the couch, and led me back to her bedroom. The rest of our clothes managed to disappear along the way.

The next morning I wanted to refuse to get up out of bed but I knew that I couldn't miss my flight today. My classes were going to be starting again on Monday and I needed a chance to recover from the jet lag before that. I didn't need to be falling asleep in any of them. Alice had to go to class today herself and was unable to miss the session. They were having a practical exam. We did go to the café for breakfast although neither of us was really hungry. We both just kept pushing our food around the plates until we ran out of time.

I wanted to follow her to her school and wait there until it was time to board my plane but putting off the inevitable by even an hour was not going to help either of us deal with our pending separation.

We were standing on the curb, hugging and crying and promising to try harder to talk and see each other when Alec and Jane walked up. They stayed a respectful distance and never said a word other than that they thought she'd be upset after we separated at the café and wanted to make sure that she made it to school safely. I was grateful to them for thinking about her and caring so much. I watched as the three of them walked away from me. Alec and Jane had wrapped their arms around her waist, almost as if they were holding her up. She turned when she was at the end of the block and blew me a kiss.

I stayed right where I was until they were long gone before I grabbed my bags and hailed a cab. I didn't talk to anyone on the flight home. I tried to occupy myself with a book, then a movie, and even tried to take a nap but nothing was distracting me from thinking about Alice. I wanted her to be happy but I also wanted her to be with me. I was determined that we could survive this separation, I just didn't know how.

A/N:

Hey there! More Jasper! You'll hear from him and Alice again in the future. For all my readers in the South East US, please be safe while Isaac hits the shorelines. I have an aunt in Gulfport.

I hope to have another chapter later this week depending on my week.


	15. Chapter 15

OOO Chapter 15

Back to Life

BPOV:

After we retuned to California our lives became more hectic and stressful than ever. Our professors were piling on the work as the semester started coming to a close. Not only did we have our new work to do, but we were all trying to review and study for our comprehensive finals. Plus Edward and I had Tanya to take care of as well. Leah had the bright idea of getting a calendar for everyone to write our schedules on so we knew not only when people were free to watch Tanya but when they were going to be home for meal. That was helpful in itself since we were no longer planning meals for nights when no one was going to be home. Most of the time we ended up picking up fast food or ordering pizza.

Most days the house was a disaster but there wasn't much we could do. Leah and Jess were trying hard to keep up with it but they were working a lot lately. Jess had even taken on a temp job for the holidays. It was far from unsanitary. We were at least keeping up with the dishes and the trash but there were clothes and toys and other items thrown everywhere. We had agreed that as soon as finals were over we'd take a day to clean the house from top to bottom.

It was Friday night and I was standing in the laundry room with Tanya on my hip while I was starting yet another load of laundry. She was still in her clingy phase and it was worse tonight because she was cutting a molar right now and it was making her cranky.. It was just the two of us in the house since everyone else was either at a study group or work. I was living quite the exciting life. It was Friday night and here I am home alone with a baby and wearing my rattiest sweats.

I walked to the kitchen as soon as I got the washer started and grabbed a piece of cold pizza from the fridge for my dinner. I looked into the sink and realized that I really needed to wash dishes but decided that that could wait until I got Tanya to sleep tonight. It was hard enough washing dishes while holding Tanya, doing dishes would be practically impossible. Plus, I didn't want to risk her getting burned by the hot water.

I had just taken the first bite when there was a knock at the door. I was cautious as I approached the door. I wasn't expecting anyone and James and Victoria always came through the backyards and knock at the patio doors. I was shocked when I looked through the peephole to find Carlisle and Esme standing there.

I threw open the door to let them in and Esme jumped forward and grabbed me into a hug without a word. I looked over at Carlisle over Esme's shoulder and saw him looking at my dinner with disapproval. As soon as we pulled away I stepped back to let them in the house, "Edward is going to be ecstatic to find you here when he gets home." I handed Tanya to Esme and went to the kitchen to get rid of the piece of pizza.

"When will he be home?" Esme called out to me.

"Not for about another hour. He's at the library with his study group from his Anatomy class."

"We aren't interrupting your studying or anything, are we?" I walked in to see Esme was sitting on the couch folding the clothes that were in the basket I'd there beside my open text book and Carlisle sitting on the floor playing with Tanya and her blocks. It was the first time all night that she laughed, let alone smiled.

"No. I stopped to get some laundry done. I'll just take these in the other room."

"Please don't. I mean, it just makes me feel useful. Without Edward and Alice at home my house stays so clean I feel so…useless." Esme said in a voice that sounded like she was close to tears.

"I told you I'd start throwing more things on the floor for you but you didn't like that suggestion," Carlisle laughed at her.

"I feel bad that the house is messy though. We've just been focusing on school."

"You should have seen our house when Alice and Edward were toddlers. They were always getting into everything and destroying the house." Esme said with a sigh. "Sometimes there are more important things to focus on than housework."

We sat and chatting while I let Esme help me with laundry. Before I knew it, I heard the patio door opening, "Bella? I'm home. Whose car is that in the driveway?" Edward came around the corner and his face lit up when he saw his parent's sitting there. After hugging them he sat down next to me and kissed my cheek.

We sat and talk for a few minutes before Tanya started getting cranky again and I decided that it was time for her to go to bed. Edward volunteered to do it since he had been gone all day and hadn't spent any time with her. Esme jumped to help Edward get Tanya ready for bed. I waited until they disappeared into Tanya's room before I got up and went to the kitchen to make a pot of tea. Carlisle followed me and remained silent as I was working around the kitchen.

"Bella, we need to talk." I closed my eyes and sighed. I knew that this was why they came here. I had been expecting to hear from Carlisle, I just never expected him to fly all the way down here to confront me. "I am still listed as your primary care physician so I get the results of all of your tests."

"I know and I'm trying to do better."

"Given the fact that you answered the door with a piece of pizza in your hand, I just can't believe that."

I turned to face him, "It's so hard when you are too tired to make a lunch and there are so few healthy options at fast food when you are on the run."

"I know that Bella. You are not the first patient of mine to have that problem. But we have to figure out a solution for you because these test results are not good at all." My doctor here had gotten on my case about my blood pressure being too high when I was there earlier this week. "We've decided to put you on a different blood pressure medicine and add a beta blocker since your cholesterol levels are up, too. I also scheduled you to go in for a stress test tomorrow."

"Why does Bella need all that?" Edward asked looking confused as he walked in on the end of our conversation.

A/N:

Happy Wednesday! Whew! I was hoping to get this out before I left work today. It's Mom's birthday and we are going out to dinner. Have you ever looked at Olive Garden's nutritional facts? If you aren't watching what you eat I'll let you continue to live in blissful ignorance. I wish that I could.

For any of you on the Gulf Coast, I hope that you are safe today. I have family in Gulfport so plenty of worrying gone on in my house right now.

I think that I am completely caught up on reviews now for all of my stories. If I missed anyone, it was not intentional at all but I am sorry.

More this weekend…I think…I hope…


	16. Chapter 16

OOO Chapter 16

Title

EPOV:

"Why does Bella need all that?" I asked looking back and forth between Bella and my father. "You said that you were fine after your appointment this week."

"I am fine. My blood pressure was slightly up but the doctor told me that he thought it was probably nothing to worry about."

"Yes. He told me that he told you that and he shouldn't have. While this is not a dire situation it is also not something that I feel should be ignored. I am worried that you knew that there may have been an issue yet you were eating pizza when we got here. That is so bad for you and it something that is definitely on your 'never eat' list."

"We have been slacking with the diet, haven't we?" I asked, disappointed that we had been so reckless by caving and doing what was easy instead of taking time to cook meals that were infinitely healthier than anything we'd get at fast food. Dad suggested that we sit down so that we could discuss the situation and it hits me that this is what is behind their sudden visit. The semester would be over in two weeks and we would be going home to Forks for a while. The situations must be more serious than dad just let on why else would he drop everything and fly down here without notice.

We talked for about another hour before my parents left to go back to their hotel promising to meet us for breakfast in the morning. Bella and I went to bed in silence. I don't know about her but I kept thinking about what dad told her, "If you ever want to have another child you need to take care of your heart. If you keep going the way you are a pregnancy would be too much strain on your heart and you will die."

It was almost enough to just decided then and there that Tanya was going to be an only child because I wasn't about to do anything that would risk us losing Bella like that. I knew that Bella was still awake so I wrapped my arms around her and asked a question that I had never thought of to ask, "What would happen to Tanya if, God forbid, something should happen to you?"

"I was told by my lawyer sometime right before I had her that Dad would be given custody of her since _they_ are in jail for….well, no court would even consider granting _them_ custody." I wanted to ask about me keeping Tanya and raising her but I dropped the subject. Part of me was afraid that she wouldn't want me to and part of me just wanted to stop thinking about the possibility of her dying.

The next we met my parents at a little café near the house. It was hard to find anything healthy for breakfast that wasn't oatmeal or a fruit cup. We finally settled on waffles and fruit which ended up being good and filling. Dad told Bella that he wanted her to start logging her food and exercise intake using a website that he was familiar with.

After breakfast we all drove over the hospital where Dad had arranged for Bella to take the tests at. Mom and I sat in the lounge for three hours waiting while Bella to be done with her tests. We were passing the time by playing with Tanya. She was especially enjoying running from us while we chased her. We were completely exhausted by the time that Dad and Bella walked back into the room. He had sat in on all of the tests so that he could see for himself and not have to wait for the results to come back to him.

We decided to wait until we got home to talk about the test results. Tanya was getting hungry and it was almost time for her afternoon nap. Mom and Bella drove in my parent's rental car, planning to stop at the store for stuff to make for lunch and dinner while Dad and I took my car and went straight back to the house.

I wasn't surprised to see that Jasper wasn't there. He was gone a lot with friends these days. Leah was there and was watching a movie when we arrived. I noticed that she had done a little cleaning while we were gone. I asked her if she knew if Jess would be home for dinner but she said that neither of them would as they both had dates. I was happy to hear that and I was sure that Bella would be too. It was good to see the two of them making lives for themselves here. This was the first time that I knew of that Leah was going on a date since Sam. She needed to trust that not all men would cheat on her. Jess just needed to learn to trust herself. Sure, there was the chance that she'd fail and start using again but I don't think that she'd fall into that so easily. It would end up being something major that pushed her over that edge.

Leah left us alone so that we could talk. Which was nice of her but unnecessary as Bella would tell her what was up if she wanted to know. Dad wasn't completely thrilled with the results and the stress test and the ultrasound of her heart showed that there were issues that she needed to take seriously. He didn't go into details but he said that he recently realized that this was more than the repercussions of her attack and subsequent pregnancy but there were underlying genetic reasons that her heart was giving her trouble. But if the attacked hadn't happen she wouldn't have had to worry about her heart for many more years.

We discussed low fat diet and promised that we go online and search recipes; we even agreed to buy some cookbooks for our nooks. Then there was the daily logging of everything she and her exercising. Dad said that he wanted to keep an eye on her diet and blood pressure readings but if he didn't see an improvement he may make her cut back on her classes. Before they left that night he reminded us that this wasn't just a temporary situation but a permanent lifestyle for her and me, if I continued to be with her.

As soon as my parents were gone, Bella and I got out our books and tried to make up some of the time that we'd lost today. We worked for two hours when Bella shut her book and then closed mine before saying that she wanted to go to bed. I almost verbally thanked my dad when he was talking about Bella exercising and told us that, like he told us before, sex was a good cardio workout as long as we didn't overdo it. At this point that seemed impossible since it had been over a week since that last time we had made love. That was way too long in my opinion. He also suggested that we get a treadmill or plan on taking daily walks. He commented that it would be safe if me or Jasper walked with her if she was going out walking in the evening and Mom and I agreed and thankfully so did Bella. This was good because I didn't think that we could afford to buy a treadmill at this point. Plus I was worried about whether it was safe to have one around Tanya. It seemed a little dangerous to me.

I stood up and pulled Bella to her feet, kissing her before I took her hand and led her to our room. I had her shirt off her before the door was closed and locked. It was only seconds later that we were both naked in our bed. I really loved Bella's breast and always made sure to give them a lot of attention. It didn't hurt that it really turned her on when I did. That was a definite plus. But even with my love of her breasts, nothing could compare to the feeling of me being inside of her while she wrapped her legs tightly around me. Then and there I promised myself and her that I was going to do everything that I could to make sure that Bella followed my dad's orders. There was no way in hell that I was going to risk losing her.

A/N:  
Happy Sunday! I hope this ending made up for the way I left the last chapter. Next chapter will be as soon as I can write it. I've already started writing it in my head and just need to get it done on paper (so to speak).


	17. Chapter 17

OOO 17

Home for the Holidays

EPOV:

Before my parent's had left we sat down and had a true heart to heart conversation with them about what the next few weeks had in store for us. We knew that we were going to be studying nonstop so they suggested that Bella allow them to take Tanya back to Forks with them to allow us to concentrate on our finals and Bella on her health for a couple weeks. Besides they used the guilt card that they'd had dinner with Charlie and Sue lately and knew that they were missing their granddaughter too. Bella gave in after that, she packed Tanya a bag and we said goodbye to her until the semester was over.

That was two weeks ago and right mow Bella and I were sitting on a plane with only ten minutes left until we reached Seattle. I was sitting on the aisle and Bella was next to me. Jasper and Leah were in the row in front of us. While I was trying to keep Bella as calm as I could, I could hear Leah and Jasper laughing and joking. As soon as they announced that we needed to put our seatbelts on for the decent she literally started vibrating and bouncing in her seat. I started laughing at her until she turned and glared at me. I knew that she was anxious to get her hands on her daughter. She always hated being separated from her, but my parents were right about taking her. We were so busy and without having to worry about someone being home with Tanya we were both able to go more study groups and sit at the library and study the night away.

Bella had also joined that website that Dad told us about. Every day she had to go on there and write down everything that she'd eat and then it was posted for everyone to see. Dad was making it a point to check it every day as well and then comment on the foods that she was eating. He was happy with the effort that she was making so far but I knew that he was worried about her keeping it up.

As soon as the flight attendants opened the doors Bella was ready to run off the plane. I had to hold her back promising that Tanya was going to still be out there waiting for us but we couldn't trample over everyone in front of us to get off the plane. I grabbed our carryon bags and followed behind her in the procession of people filing off of the plane.

One of the first things that we saw as we entered the terminal was Alice standing there holding Tanya. Alice had gotten two weeks off for Christmas and decided to make the trip home. Her and I had talked about it, it was going to be hard on her physically with the travel and time differences but she missed us too much to stay there for the holidays.

Bella and Jasper all but ran for Alice. I had to jump to catch Leah and they bumped into her and nearly knocked her to the ground. Bella got to Alice first but only by a step, she had Tanya out of Alice's arms a second before Jasper grabbed Alice into a hug. I went to my parents first and then I took Tanya from Bella so that she could hug Charlie. We had talked a lot about it and she really wanted to spend the night with her family and it wasn't like I wouldn't survive a night or two without her. I may not be able to sleep without her but I'd survive it. I can't expect her to spend all her time home with my family and there isn't enough room at her family's house for me to stay with them. As we walked through the parking lot, Bella and I dropped back to the back of the group. I gave her and Tanya quick kisses goodbye as they followed Charlie to his car and I followed mom and Dad to ours. Alice had driven her car up so she and Jasper could have the evening to themselves.

Mom, Dad, and I decided to stop for dinner at a little Mexican restaurant that we loved while we were in Seattle. We spent the time talking about my life in California and how I thought I did on my finals. I was so happy with my life there and I knew that I had made the right decision to go there with Bella and Tanya.

Alice was home by the time that we got there. She was in her pajamas and was putting a movie into the DVD player. I told her to hold on and I ran up to my room to change my clothes and came back down to watch the movie with her. I had really, really missed this. I hadn't seen my sister, in person, for six months and that was killing me. She and I stayed up most of the night watching movie after movie and talking. When I finally made it up to my room I passed out the second that my head hit the pillow.

I slept until after noon and got downstairs in time to find Bella sitting in the kitchen with Mom, Alice, Leah, Sue, and Rose. Rose and I had never been really close until Bella came into our lives and I have to admit that I missed her a little. The girls were going to drive up to Port Angeles to do some Christmas shopping. I managed to convince Bella to leave Tanya with me. I missed the little stinker and she'd had her all night. It was my turn. As soon as they were gone I took Tanya to the living room and we sat down on the floor and played ball.

An hour later, as we were coming back down from a diaper change I heard a car pulling up to the house. I opened the front door to find Emmett and Jasper getting out of Emmett's Jeep.

"Dude! Look at how big she is!"

"You see her all the time on Skype."

"I know but you really can't tell that well on the computer. I bet she's keeping you guys hopping."

"All the time," Jasper answered as Tanya reached for him and he grabbed her out of my arms. The four of us went to the living room and spent the afternoon watching some game on TV and playing with Tanya. It was nice to be home.

A/N:

Happy Sunday! It's Christmas and the whole gang is together again. More of the holiday to come.


	18. Chapter 18

OOO Chapter 18

Family Ties

BPOV:  
I was so happy to be home and be with my daughter again. I was also thrilled to not have to worry about homework and studying for a couple of weeks. College was a lot harder than high school ever was and even more so with a toddler to chase around. I missed my little girl more than words can say after I let Carlisle and Esme take her with them, but I have to admit that it was the right decision to make. There just weren't enough hours in the day to do everything that I needed to do for school, let alone spend enough quality time taking care of her. Besides, Esme was right, Dad missed her terribly and I knew it would make him happy to get more time with her.

I sat in the back of the van next to Tanya on the ride home from the airport. I was going to miss sleeping next to Edward tonight, but I really wanted to spend some time with Dad. Leah was sitting up front next to Dad and talking about this loser she went out with a couple of times only to find out that he was living with another woman and had two kids with her and another on the way. She dropped kicked his butt to the curb. I mean literally. Edward and Jasper had to stop her before she got herself arrested for assault and battery. Then she started talking about how she and Jessica were going to start cosmetology school after the first of the year.

Dad asked us yet again how it was going with Jessica living with us. He didn't completely trust her yet, and she understood that. She didn't completely trust herself yet. We told him that she was doing really well and actually she and Leah had ended up being really close friends. We had invited Jess to come back with us to spend the holidays but she declined. She said that she was looking forward to having the house to herself. We were worried about her spending Christmas alone but Leah assured us that their boss had invited her over for the holidays. The lady had a Christmas dinner for all her employee and friends that didn't have family in the area.

Sue and Seth were waiting for us at home with dinner. Just a simple baked chicken and rice with cream of chicken soup poured over it. It is one of my favorites and its easy enough for me and Edward to make back home at school. We just pop the chicken in the over and go study. Dinner was a boisterous affair with Seth rambling about anything and everything that he'd been doing since the last time we saw him. He had a steady girlfriend now and he couldn't wait to get his license on his birthday in mid February.

After dinner, I took Tanya upstairs to give her a bath and put her to bed. After I was done I rejoined my family in the living room. I wondered what Edward and his family were doing right now and I was tempted to call or text him, but I ultimately decided to leave my phone in my bag up in my room. We could survive one night apart.

I carried the baby monitor downstairs with me and found my family sitting in the kitchen setting up monopoly. I set the baby monitor in the middle of the game board and grabbed the top hat before dad could.

"Hey! That's my favorite!"

"Too bad. I got it first!"

"Stop arguing with her Charlie and sit down," Sue said with a smile as she put a bowl of popcorn down next to the baby monitor. "It's air popped and there is no salt on it so both of you can have it."

I had had a lot of popcorn like that lately and I was still getting used to how dry it was, but it was a snack that I could eat guilt free so I'd take it. Sue also handed me a glass of decaf iced tea sweetened with splenda, another thing that I was getting used to. Carlisle seemed pleased with how seriously I had taken my diet since his surprise visit. I felt bad that I had upset and worried him that much that he felt that it was important to jump on a plane to see me about my health.

We spent the next two hours laughing and arguing and throwing popcorn at each other until Seth finally beat all of us. I was tired from the flight and staying up half the night….um…playing with Edward. As soon as everything was put away I went to bed. I stopped to watch Tanya sleeping in her crib. She was getting so big and it would only be a few more months before we had to move her to a toddler bed.

The next morning I came downstairs early with Tanya to find Sue in the kitchen making breakfast. We were meeting up with going to up to Port Angeles for a girl's day of shopping and lunch. I was excited to hang out with Rose and Alice again, it had been way too long.

We arrived at the Cullen's house about the same time that Rose and her mother did. Between Rose, Alice, and I, I was surprised that we didn't wake Edward with our squealing. We were talking rather loud and nonstop from the first moment we were in each other's presence. It was like we talked all the time on Skype and email. Although, it was more emails than anything else for the last couple of weeks with our finals.

We were still sitting around the kitchen talking and gossiping when Edward did make it down the stairs. He was practically begging me to leave Tanya with him for the day. It was cold and rainy outside and the shops in Port Angeles would have us walking outside as we went from shop to shop and I really didn't want to drag her along and risk her getting sick. It was just a lot of fun getting him to beg.

We had too many of us going to be able to fit into one car, even with Sue's van, so we ended up in two cars. Sue, Esme, and Rose's Mom rode in Esme's car and Alice, Rose, Leah, and I rode in Alice's car. We cranked up the music as we hit the highway and we were on our way.

A/N:

Happy Wednesday!


	19. Chapter 19

OOO Chapter 19

Shopping

Alice POV:

I was so thrilled to be driving my car again. There were so many things that I missed about home. I mean I missed my family and friends most of all, obviously, but France was just so different. Things were done differently there and I was always in class or working at the restaurant. It left very little time for fun, not that my roommates and I didn't manage to whenever we found the time. On the other hand, I have learned a lot already.

My roommates were amazing. I knew I got lucky on that, there were a couple apartments that did some moving around because the roommates just could not find a way to get along. We were each partnered with one of our roommates for everything we did; classwork, labs, and even at the restaurant. Alec was my partner. He was an awesome guy who had the ability to make me smile whenever my homesickness got to me too much, which was quite often at the beginning. He was easily the person that I was closest to in France and one my best friends now. It was rare that we weren't together either doing things for school or just hanging out. Well, him and his sister Jane. Jane was hilarious and a lot of fun but I just wasn't as close to her as I was Alec.

I was so shocked when Jasper surprised me by showing up in Paris for Thanksgiving. That right there just made everything so much better for me. As usual, Jasper always knew exactly what I needed and how to make me happy. It was one of the many, many reasons that I love him as much as I do.

I pulled off the highway once I hit Port Angeles and drove to where we agreed to meet up with our mothers. I was so hyped for this shopping trip. Still had to do a lot of my Christmas shopping, I had picked up a few small things that I could fit in my suitcase with me but I didn't have much done. I couldn't ship presents for everyone all the way back from Paris.

Port Angeles was busy today and I was forced to drive around searching for an open spot. I took a while but I finally found one a couple of streets over from where I saw my mother's car parked. We hurried back to where they were waiting for us.

We spent the day wandering in and out of the shops. It was freaking freezing out and we stopped for hot coffee after only an hour of walking around. It was a good thing that Bella decided to leave the baby behind. We split up a couple of times but for the most part we all stayed together. The idea of where to stop for lunch sparked a debate. Some of wanted Chinese, but Bella couldn't have that because of her diet. I was surprised to learn that Bella hadn't been doing so well. I talked to them and my parents all the time and no one had bothered to tell me that one of my best friends and future sister in law had been having health issues. It made me wonder briefly if there was anything else that they were keeping from me. I didn't really need to add paranoia to my repertoire. I had a hard enough time convincing people that I wasn't actually crazy. I was merely hyper and determined. It made people look at me strangely sometimes. Not that I really cared what most people thought of me, just the people that mattered to me.

We finally decided on this little diner in town that Bella said was one of Edward's favorite places to eat in Port Angeles. Everyone was interested in hearing about my life in Paris, Bella and Leah's in Los Angeles, and Rose's in South Carolina. She had had the same problem with homesickness that I did but, unlike me, she had been able to go see Emmett and come home a couple of times. I didn't have that option. Seeing everyone via Skype only helped so much. Like with Tanya, I was shocked when I got home the other night, not only to find that my parents had her, but how big she'd gotten. She'd grown so much in the last six months. She was a baby the last time I saw her in person, now she was a toddler. I was suddenly worried that I was going to miss everything as she grew up and I was going to end up being 'that aunt' that she only saw at holidays. Her and any other children that my brother and Bella had in the future. I didn't want to end up being a stranger to my family.

By the time that we were ready to head back to Forks, I was almost done with my shopping; I just had a few more gifts to buy. Most of the shopping I had left was for Tanya. I intended to spoil her like crazy while I was home. Rose told us about how she had had to talk Emmett out of buying her a puppy for Christmas. Bella thanked her profusely; saying that neither she nor Edward had the free time necessary that it took to care for a puppy. Plus she thought that Tanya was still a little young for a pet just yet.

The moment that my engine was warmed up enough, I blasted the heat through the car. We were all freezing and I was going to be absolutely shocked if none of us came down with the flu. The ride back was noisier than the ride up to Port Angeles. We were all sharing stories of our lives at college that none of us really wanted to share with our mothers. You know, just typical girl talk.

I invited Bella to join mom and me in preparing Christmas dinner. She had spent the night last night at her father's house but I was sure that that was going to be short lived. I didn't see Edward being happy being without the two of them for too long.

We arrived home to find that Edward had made dinner for all of us. That was the strangest thing ever since Edward didn't cook. It was a simple baked chicken and rice but it looked good. I sat there and watched him and Bella talking and moving around the kitchen as she helped prepare a salad and set the table when I realized that this was normal for them. This is what their life was in Los Angeles. They were happy and settled together and I was so happy for them.

Dinner was done and on the table when Dad got home from work and we all sat and ate as a family. I remember nights just over a year ago, before Edward and Bella started dating when Bella was staying with us and smiled. We all changed so much from who we were in those days. I was already hating the idea of returning to France when the holidays were over.

After dinner we planned to watch a movie after Edward and Bella got Tanya to bed. Mom, Dad, and I were cleaning up from dinner. I was just putting the last dish away in the cabinet when my phone started ringing. I knew who it was by the ringtone and I was surprised that he was calling me. I grabbed the phone and walked out of the room before I answered it, "Hey Alec! What's up?"

A/N:

A little input from Alice, this won't be the last we hear from her. Thanks for reading and for reviewing. I hope to update again this week.


	20. Chapter 20

OOO Chapter 20

Sibling connections

EPOV:

I woke up with Bella in my arms and I was content to just stay here all day. We didn't get mornings like this very often. Tanya usually had us up at the crack of dawn but Alice took the baby monitor last night to let us have a chance to sleep in. Besides, she had to leave tomorrow and wanted to spend as much time as possible with her before she had to go. As tempting as it was to stay in bed with Bella all day I knew that we would have to get up and join the land of the living today. Besides, Bella never felt comfortable making love in our parents' homes. She always said she felt like she was disrespecting them and I wasn't going to push her if she didn't want to.

I carefully got out of the bed without waking her and make my way downstairs to the kitchen to find some food for breakfast. I walked into the kitchen to find Mom and Alice watching Tanya feed herself scrambled eggs. She got distracted from her breakfast when she looked up and saw that I in the room, "ta-ta".

"What does that mean? She keeps saying it and we can't figure it out."

"Oatmeal. She loves oatmeal. I think Bella bought some for her yesterday." I walked over to the cabinet and started making Tanya her oatmeal. When it was ready, I placed the bowl in front of Tanya and backed off, letting her go at it. Bella was working with her on her feeding herself. I was just about to warn Mom and Alice to back away when Tanya suddenly dipped her hand in the bowl and then reached up and smear some oatmeal on Alice's face. I couldn't help but laugh as Alice sat there in shock and Mom immediately started scooting her chair back getting out of Tanya's arm range.

After Tanya was sufficiently happy with the mess that she'd made with the oatmeal she shoved the bowl onto the floor, "Ok. Now she's done."

"Do you go through this everyday?" Alice asked me with a look of shock on her face. She and Tanya were covered in oatmeal as was the tray and the floor. "Are you sure she likes this stuff because I don't think that she actually ate any of it."

"Bella used to do the same thing when she was a baby," we looked up to find Charlie standing in the doorway to the kitchen with Dad standing next to him. They both looked really amused at the mess that Tanya had made with her breakfast.

I grabbed a clean wash cloth and started to wipe her face and hands before realizing that it was a lost cause and she was going to need a full bath to get the oatmeal out of her hair. Mom volunteered to take her upstairs to clean her up while I worked on the kitchen. Dad poured himself and Charlie some coffee before they disappeared together.

"You never answered, do you go through that everyday?"

"Most days," I answered her. "Bella and I eat oatmeal a lot because its on her diet that Dad set up for her."

"I don't see how Bella can do this kind of mess and make to classes on time."

"Bella's classes are in the morning so I get to do the clean up. I deliver Tanya to her. Well, usually Renata gets there first and I give Tanya to her but Bella is always only a few minutes from getting there anyway."

"Who is Renata again?"

"She was in one of Bella's classes and they became friends. I think they're going to have a couple of classes together when the spring semester starts." She nodded her head but remained silent. I could see that there was something bothering her. I also knew when there was something on her mind and she was the same way with me. As much as I love Bella, she and I weren't as in tune with each other as Alice and I were.

"What's up?" I asked as I got the mop and bucket out of the closet. She just shook her head at me but didn't answer. She just kept staring out of the back patio doors. I turned to the sink and started filling the bucket with hot water, waiting and letting her decide to talk when she was ready.

"It's raining again. I've actually missed the rain," She finally spoke up as I turned off the water and grabbed the bucket out of the sink.

"I know. We rarely get rain in LA, but its actually nice when we do. Makes it feel more like home."

"Paris is the same way."

"Are you and Jasper going to the New Year's Party at the beach tonight?" I asked trying to change the subject to something I knew would make her smile.

"I think so. I'm not really sure yet. Are you and Bella going?"

"Yes. Leah offered to stay home and babysit. She has no desire to go there after the disaster last year ended up being for her." Recognition flickered in Alice's eyes as she remembered that that was the night Leah discovered that Sam was cheating on her with her own cousin. "You know, I expected you and Jasper to be inseparable while you were both home. I'm surprised that you've two haven't been out together more. I can tell you from personal observation that he's missed you like Hell."

"I know. I've missed him too."

"Then why are you sitting here with me while I scrub oatmeal off Mom's good tile floor."

"I don't know," She shrugged.

"Liar. I think you do know. You just aren't ready to admit it."

"I think it's more that it's a conversation that Jasper's deserves to get to have first."

"Are you ok?"

"I will be." I nodded and then went back to my mopping. She came up behind me and gave me a quick hug. "I love you, Edward." It startled me that she suddenly sounded like she was about to start crying. I spun around but she was gone from the room already. What I did find was Bella and Tanya standing in the doorway. Bella was staring out into the hall, obviously watching where my sister was fleeing to.

"Is everything alright?" Bella asked me as she walked into the room and gave me a quick kiss.

"I don't know. I really have no idea what that was about." I finished cleaning up and Bella and I went to the living room where we spent the rest of the morning with my parents and Charlie watching a movie and playing with Tanya.

A/N:

Happy Friday! I will tell you that the next chapter will be in Alice's POV again. I hope to have it written and posted in a few days. Have a wonderful weekend and if you are reading Assumptions, I will see you in the morning.


	21. Chapter 21

OOO Chapter 21

Undeniable Truth

APOV:

I pulled up in front of Jasper's house and waited for him to come out to the car. He had obviously left his car in California so I was doing all the driving while we were home. I wasn't sure about going to the New Year's party at First Beach but he wanted to go to see friends and I just wanted to spend time with him before I left tomorrow.

He smiled as he climbed into the car and reached over and grabbed my face to give me a kiss. I giggled as he moved to kiss my neck before sitting back in his seat and buckling his safety belt

"Where's Edward and Bella? I figured they'd be riding with us since they don't have their cars either."

"Mom loaned them hers. They're driving up to Port Angeles for dinner before going to the party since they are getting out without the baby. You still want to eat at the diner or would you prefer something else?"

"Yeah, I want to eat all the greasy junk food I can while I'm here. We try not to bring stuff in the house that Bella can't have. I mean it's not that she'd begrudge us food that we aren't restricted from but we all agreed that it would be shitty of us to eat those things in front of her. Don't get me wrong, we all eat all the greasy burgers, fries, and bacon we can get our hands on when we eat out. Except for Edward, he is good at adhering to her diet."

"It wouldn't hurt you to eat healthier so that you stay healthy. Anyway, fast food is just gross and the worst thing you can put in your body."

"Don't start Alice."

I sighed and dropped it and that was the extent of our conversation on the way to the diner and it didn't get any better while we ate. We talked about other people but not us. Mainly, Jasper talked about Tanya. It seemed that whenever I start talking about Paris or him about his life in California we'd end up in some sort of argument.

I didn't understand what was happening. Things had seemed to have gotten so much better for us after he visited for Thanksgiving but Christmas has not been what I was expecting at all. I was sure when I decided to come home that we were going to be inseparable, but we weren't. I had invited him to stay with me at my house, and he did a couple of times but mostly he wanted to go home for the night. I understood that he wanted to spend time with his family and friends while he was home, too. I mean, I'm not a heartless cow. But he could have asked me to stay with him.

When he had left Paris, we had agreed to try our hardest to go out and enjoy our college lives. One month was all that it took for something to feel different. It wasn't really him and it wasn't really me. I just couldn't figure out what was off until Alec called. He and Jane had stayed in Paris and volunteered to work over the holidays. He had called to tell me about something hilarious that had happened with a customer while he was on shift. The guy was being difficult and rude to the employees and Chef finally had it with him and came out, told the guy of, and physically threw him out of the restaurant. I really wished I had been there to see that. Alec promised me that Jane managed to record the whole thing on her phone. I wanted to tell Jasper all about it but I didn't. I hated the idea that there was anything that we couldn't talk to each other about and that is where we were.

As we got closer to the beach the atmosphere in the car was becoming more and more strained. By the time that I parked the car we both knew that we had to deal with this. We climbed out of the car and he took my hand and started leading me to the beach, away from the party.

In that moment, I wished that I could tell him that I'd give up Paris and transfer to a culinary school in Los Angeles but I just couldn't and I knew that he didn't want me too. We reached the shore and sat down on some logs. Jasper continued to hold my hand and play with my fingers, "I love you, Alice."

"I love you too, but something's not right.

"It feels like we did something wrong."

"I don't think we did anything _wrong. _I think we are where we are supposed to be. It's just that it's a lot harder than we expected it to be and the results weren't what we were expecting."

"So, what do we do about it?"

"I don't want to end up hating you. I don't think I could bear that."

"Me either."

"I've been thinking about this for a couple days and I really think that we should go our separate ways and see what happens." I looked over and saw tears starting to stream down from his eyes.

"I know you're right but….How come this has been so easy on Emmett and Rose. They aren't having any problems being separated?"

"I don't know." I whispered with tears of my own falling from my eyes.

"I can't lose you completely, Alice. You have to promise me that, at least, we'll still be friends and talk."

"No. I can't handle not having you in my life in some respect. I think "friends" is what perfect for our situation right now. We sat on the beach until I was calm enough to be able to drive and then I took him home.

I arrived back at my house, relieved to find that I was alone. Mom had gone to the hospital to spend the evening with Dad and Bella and Edward were still at the beach party. I went straight to my room and crawled into bed. I laid there and cried for hours. I never thought that my decision to go to school in France would cost me Jasper but it did. After awhile I heard Edward and Bella come home. It made me smile when I heard them in the hall. Edward did something that made Bella giggle and tell him to stop or at least wait until they were in their bedroom. I was happy that everything had worked out so well for my brother.

I never did get to sleep. I gave up after I heard someone come out of their bedroom and head downstairs. I climbed out of bed and followed them downstairs to the kitchen where I found Bella starting to heat up a cup of tea.

"Will you make me one too?" I asked. My throat was scratchy and sore from crying so much all night and my voice reflected that. I also had a major headache from the crying. Bella looked at me for a minute before nodding and turning to add more water to the tea pot.

"Are you ok?" That was the question wasn't it.

"Not really. Jasper and I broke up last night." I watched as she nearly dropped the mugs she was holding due to the shock of my statement and I heard the gasp behind me. I turned to see my brother standing there looking stunned. That is when it hit me that our break up didn't just affect me and Jasper. My brother had to continue to live with him and was still his best friend. I was going to have to have a long talk with Edward before I left today. I didn't want this to hurt his friendship with Jasper in anyway. I wouldn't want that for either of them because when it came right down to it, I would always love Jasper, even if we couldn't be together right now.

A/N:

Do I need to go into the witness protection program? I have a plan. Maybe some people won't be happy but its set in stone. It comes down to some relationships can withstand long distance separations and some can't. I promise that Alice was not cheating with Alec. His is just a friend. Hopefully, another update later this week if I get the Assumptions update written. Thank you for reading.


	22. Chapter 22

OOO Chapter 22

Title

EPOV:

There was no way that I heard my sister right. I walked to the kitchen table and sat down. I was stunned. In shock. How…how did this happen? They had been together for years and the last I knew, Jasper wanted to marry her after college.

"Look. I did this. It was my idea and it really was for the best. I just don't want to talk about it, ok?"

Bella made us all cups of tea and we sat at the table in silence for a long time, until Alice sighed and stood up and left to finish getting ready to leave for the airport. Bella scooted her chair closer to mine and wrapped her arms around me while laying her head on my shoulder. She turned her head and whispered, "I love you," into my ear.

"I want to make love to you."

"As soon as your parents leave." She kissed my cheek and left the room mentioning that she was going to go check on Alice. I finished my tea and started looking around the kitchen for something easy to make my family for breakfast when Alice walked back into the kitchen. I watched Alice pull some premade waffle batter out of the fridge and I got excited. No one made waffles like Alice. Neither Bella nor I could make waffles at all so we normally had to settle for those store bought, frozen ones I hated them. Alice had me start chopping up fresh fruit for her to make what she was calling it a fruit compote. I have no idea what that is but if Alice is making it, I am sure it will be good.

Mom and Dad came in and sat down at the breakfast bar with me and the three of us watched Alice work. Alice was just finishing the first waffle when Bella came into the kitchen. She had obviously just taken a shower. Her hair was still wet and not only was it clinging to her face but it was dripping onto her shirt. More specifically, it was dripping down on the front of her shirt making these big wet spots on her shirt right where her breasts were. It wasn't indecent and I am sure that no one else's eye or mind was going where mine was but the longer I stared at those wet spots the more impatient I got for my parents and Alice to leave.

I volunteered to do the dishes once we were done eating so they could get on the road. They did have a long drive up to Seattle and I didn't want them rushing to get there and risk an accident. I had just finished running the water in the sink there was a knock on the front door. Bella ran to go get before I could. A minute later she returned to the kitchen followed my Rose, Emmett, and even Jasper. He really looked like hell. He looked like he had slept at all last night. He probably hadn't. I don't think I be able to act like a civilized human being if Bella left me. It would take a long time before I would be ready to go out into social settings. He looked up between Bella and me and turned and walked out without a word.

"Is he alright?" I asked Rose.

"I don't know. He been acting like that all morning but won't tell me what's wrong."

He hadn't told them. Bella and I exchanged a quick look but kept our mouths shut. I didn't know why he had not told his sister yet, but it was his business, not ours. I was about to change the subject when I heard everyone coming downstairs and heading for the living room so we went to join them.

I hated having to say goodbye to my sister again. She had no idea when she was going to be able to get home again. I'm sure that that weighed on her decision to end things with Jasper. I felt for the guy, he looked so lost and broken. He was hanging back by the stairs as we all said goodbye to Alice. I had a feeling that he had said his when left the kitchen. Ever the gentlemen and good guy, he had gone up to her room and carried her luggage down for her.

Alice was crying and hugging Bella by the time that I turned from Jasper and returned my attention to my sister. "Take good care of my brother and my niece." Bella nodded and then Alice turned to me, "You be good to her or I'll come back to pulverize you," Alice threatened me with a hiccupping laugh. I grabbed her into a hug and squeezed her tight to me. I didn't want to see her go. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Jasper was now crying.

"Alice, honey, we have to go," Mom broke in. Alice nodded while Dad and Jasper carried her bags out. Minutes later they had pulled away and we were all still standing in the driveway watching were we'd last been able to see the car. I sighed, and pulled Bella into my arms.

"I thought you were going with them?" Rose asked Jasper. "Why didn't you go?"

"Esme and Carlisle want to have a date night while in the city. They can't do that if I'm tagging along."

"Oh. That makes sense," Rose answered him but I knew that she didn't believe him. But she dropped it. Jasper wouldn't talk until he was ready and it was painfully clear that he wasn't ready to talk. Alice really hadn't been either. She told us they had broken up but didn't tell us what happened that caused them to make that decision.

"So, what are you two doing today? Don't you have to pick up the baby?"

"Charlie said that we weren't allowed to pick her up. He's bringing her here on his way to work."

"Yeah, Dad wants to spend as much time as possible with her before we go back to California."

"Wanna go to Port Angeles and catch a movie?" Emmett suggested.

"Bella and I have plans for this afternoon." I held my tongue that our plans were to enjoy a rare afternoon alone. I didn't want to make Jasper feel any worse than he already did. Besides, going out with two couples wouldn't exactly be the smartest way to spend the afternoon after you break up with your girlfriend.

Emmett and Rose did decide to head up to Port Angeles after they dropped Jasper off home. We did make plans to meet for dinner at the Diner later. I wanted to spend a little time with Emmett while I could and I knew that Bella felt the same way about Rose.

As soon as they were gone Bella and I headed back into the house holding hands, "Should we get to those dishes."

"_You_ volunteered to do the dishes, not me. Have fun," She grabbed my face and kissed me, "I'll be waiting for you upstairs, in bed, naked." I went to chase her up the stairs but she stopped me, kissed me again, and told me that I had to be a good boy and finish my chores in I wanted to be rewarded with play time. I ran to the kitchen and started throwing everything that I could in the dish washer. There was no way that I was going to waste time washing dishes by hand now.

When I was done I ran up the stairs to my room. I walked in and found that Bella had lit several candles in the room and she was indeed completely naked on my bed. And that was how she was going to stay for the next few hours…

To be continued in the next chapter (I promise!)

A/N:

OK. I am sorry but I will not be updating this again until sometime next week. Also, if you are reading Assumptions, it will not update this coming Saturday either. I have a busy week at work and home and I'm going out of town for my brother's birthday over the weekend. I just cannot write the updates in time. Again, I'm sorry.


	23. Chapter 23

OOO Chapter 23

Alone time

EPOV:

She was so beautiful. Perfect. She was perfect. She was still self-conscious of that scar from the C-section she'd had. I didn't get it. It was hardly visible. Like I said, she was perfect. I stripped my clothes off as I made my way to the bed. She laughed at me when I tripped while trying to get my pants off and nearly smacked my head into the bed post.

I finally made it to her and climbed on to the bed and crawled over to her. We laid there just watching each other for a minute before I reached out and traced her breast with my finger. She closed her eyes and arched her back a little, pushing her breast further into my hand. I loved playing with her breasts. I know that she loved it too.

I leaned down and kissed her neck. That was always a sensitive spot that turned her on. I loved the way that she moaned every time I bit down on her neck, lightly of course. She promised me that she would never let me touch her again if I ever left a mark on her neck or any other part of her body. I've made sure to always be careful.

I stopped what I was doing and moved up to kiss her. When I pulled back I gave her my best smirk. The one that she said worries her because she knows when she sees it that I am up to no good. I just hope what I am up to will be good. I obviously had never done it before and hadn't felt comfortable attempting it with other people in the house with us. But we have a rare opportunity available to us and there was no way in hell that I was going to waste it.

I kissed my way back down her body, stopping to pay more attention to her breasts again. I lingered there for a few minutes until Bella was starting to squirm under me. Then I started moving further down her body. When I got to her stomach and kept going she started to sit up, "What do you think you're doing?"

"Something new and exciting. Just lay back, relax, and trust me, sweetheart." She looked skeptical but did what I asked but she was tense. She knew what I was up to now and it was making her nervous and that wasn't good. I was already nervous enough for the both of us. What if I was so bad at it that she started laughing at me? I don't think that my pride or ego would be able to take that kind of trauma.

I slowly moved further down her body until I was right where I had intended to be. I took a deep breath and decided that it was now or never and I leaned forward. I flicked my tongue out briefly while placing a starter kiss in what I hoped was the right spot. It must have been because she let out this high pitched gasp. So I did it again. That time I got a let my tongue linger and I got a moan from her. Feeling emboldened I licked the whole length of her which had her screaming out. I kept going and it didn't take long before I made her cum.

She lay there panting and still squirming while I kissed my way back up her body. We made love several times after that. We even tried a few new positions that we had been talking about. It's hard to convince yourself to have wild sex when your daughter is sleeping in her crib just down the hall. Today we didn't have to worry about her or roommates overhearing us so we really let ourselves go.

Somewhere around late afternoon Bella fell asleep after our latest round of, well that time it was nothing short of fucking, to be crude about it. I climbed out of bed and went to take a quick shower. I was sweaty and sticky and new that I had to smell of sex.

After my shower, I made my way down to the kitchen to look for something to make for supper. I was just throwing a leftover casserole in the oven when I heard the car coming up the drive. I smile and ran for the front door to greet them. This is why I had to get the evidence of our sex off my body. There was no way that I was going to be able to stand in front of Bella's father reeking of sex and take our daughter out of his hands. I would have felt like a complete loser.

I let Charlie and Tanya in, immediately grabbing the baby out of his arms and giving her lots of hugs and kisses. I hadn't seen her in over twenty four hours and I missed her like crazy.

"So, where is my daughter?"

"Uh…she's taking a little nap. We were out late at the party last night and we were up early with Alice."

"That's right. She left today. No wonder Jasper looked so despondent when I saw him."

"When did you see him?"

"Lunch time. I took my little angel here to the diner for lunch and to show her off to everyone. I saw him walking down the street. He looked pretty out of it."

"Yeah, well. I don't know what happened but he and my sister broke up last night."

"That's a shame. I remember when Sue came home laughing at the fit that your Dad was having over his baby girl having a boyfriend. He was not happy about that at all. Well, he was not ready to face losing her so soon. You'll see what I mean some day when this one comes home with a boyfriend."

We talked for a few more minutes before Charlie had to leave for work. I promised that we would stop by with Tanya tomorrow and spend some quality time with them.

Bella stumbling down the stairs an hour later. I loved the smile that always graced her face whenever she looked at Tanya. Bella came over and joined us while we played with the play kitchen my parents had bought Tanya for Christmas. With the exception of eating dinner, that is all we did until it was bedtime. When Bella and I finally crawled into bed that night, I held her to me tight. I fell asleep with a feeling of complete peace and ease and with a smile on my face. This was one of my best days ever.

A/N:

Again, sorry for the delay in posting, I had one hell of a busy week that ended with a weekend trip out of town. There is definitely something to be said for having a hotel pool entirely to yourself to clear your head and start plotting again. Hopefully another chapter in a few days.


	24. Chapter 24

OOO Chapter 24

Define Family

EPOV:

Bella and I had spent all day with her family just relaxing around their house and watching football. It was a fun and calm day. Alice had called to tell us that she made it to Paris with no incidents. It bothered me a little when she started referring to it as home, like she didn't consider this home anymore.

I was watching Seattle get their butts kicked and chatting with Charlie while watching Bella and Leah sitting on the floor playing with Tanya's hair. They were planning a trip up to Port Angeles tomorrow to do some clothes shopping for Tanya before we went back to California. They could have fun doing that on their own because I was definitely not interested in going. In fact, I was forming a plan of my own. I was going to get Emmett and Jasper to come over to hang out for the day.

Tomorrow was Emmett's last day in Washington before he had to fly back to Nebraska the day after and the rest of us were leaving the day after he did. Charlie got up to go into the kitchen and I took the opportunity to text Emmett and Jasper. Emmett answered right away but Jasper worried me when he did respond at all. He still hadn't responded when we left when the game was over and Charlie had to get ready to go to work.

Bella and I had a quietish dinner with my parents. I mean as quiet as you can get with a toddler at the table. We had started eating all meals in the kitchen with Tanya's habit of throwing food on the floor. Mom didn't want to have to have her carpets cleaned. We totally understood that since we had to mop after every meal.

While Bella was finishing putting Tanya to bed, I went to take a quick shower. I finally had an answer from Jasper when I was done in the bathroom, "I guess." I sighed and sat down on the bed. Something told me that he really didn't want this break up and he wasn't taking it as well as Alice was, and she was completely heartbroken over it. He was one of my best friends, had been for years and I was glad that he was going to be with us so I could keep an eye on him.

Were up early to head out to meet Sue and Leah at their house and head up to Port Angeles. When Mom found out that I had a guy's day planned and Dad had to work she asked Bella if she could tag along. If I didn't know better, I'd think I should be a little insulted by that.

I was finishing setting up the game system when Emmett and Jasper pulled up to the house. "I had to literally drag his ass out of the house," Emmett complained as they walked into the house.

"I didn't feel up to coming. So sue me." Jasper flopped onto the couch.

"What the hell is wrong with you? She had to go back to school. Suck it up. I have to be apart from Rose."

Jasper stared at Emmett for a moment before he stood up and marched out of the door slamming it behind him, "Emmett! They broke up!"

"SHIT! Why didn't anyone tell me? Does Rose know?"

I didn't answer him; I turned and ran off after Jasper. I called out to him as I saw him heading into the woods behind the house. There was a trail back there that led to the river that we knew well. Emmett came up behind me and we ran after Jasper, catching up with him quickly. Jasper didn't stop or even slow down, we came up on either side of him and we walked in complete silence.

We reached the river bank and I watched Jasper walk over to a log and sit down. He laid his head and arms down on his knees and started crying. Jasper was always the guy that was sensitive to everyone's feeling. He always knew what to say to make people feel better. I wasn't good with that kind of thing. I didn't know what to say to him and if I didn't then Emmett would be just as clueless as I was. So, I did the only thing I could think of and put my arm around his shoulder and hugged him. Emmett followed my lead from the other side of Jasper.

We sat there for the longest time. Long after it started raining in an absolute downpour. We were soaked to the bone but I was not about to rush Jasper to leave. If he wanted to sit here in the rain, then we would sit here in the rain. I had always believed that he would one day become my brother by marrying my sister. I realized, sitting there in the rain that he had always been my brother and so was Emmett. We didn't need to be related by blood or marriage to be family. There was no doubt in my mind, or anyone else's, that Tanya was my daughter even if it wasn't through biology. She called me dada and that was all the proof that I needed.

We were absolutely soaked to the bone and frozen to the bone when we finally started making our way back to the house. We went straight upstairs and I found some extra sweats for them to wear. I took a hot shower in an attempt to thaw out and wash the mud off me. By the time that I made it back downstairs I found Emmett in the kitchen making hot cocoa, "Who are you and what did you do with Emmett McCarty?" I joked with him.

"Ha, ha. Nebraska is freaking cold in the winter. This is one of the first things they teach you in the dorms. The second is always use a condom." I shook my head at Emmett and sat down at the table. Jasper still wasn't down when the cocoa was done and Emmett was pouring it in mugs. I decided to wander upstairs to look for him. He had gone to the guest room to change instead of Alice's room so I started there. When I didn't find him there I decided to check Alice's room and that was where I found him, fast asleep in her bed.

A/N:

Happy Thursday! Maybe another update in a couple days? We'll see. I don't have much planned for the weekend since my son is grounded. There will be an Assumption update on Saturday, for those that are reading that.


	25. Chapter 25

OOO Chapter 25

Fevers and Flights

BPOV:

What fucking idiots. I mean, I completely understand that Jasper was upset about breaking up with Alice but did they really need to sit outside in the pouring rain _all day_ in _Washington _in _January_? Now all three of them are sick with the flu and two of them are going to be flying home with us today. Leah was supposed to sit with Jasper a couple rows behind Edward and I but now she was refusing so we decided that we were sitting together on the flight and the two hacking, sick ones could sit together. The last thing I needed was for them to get Tanya or I sick as well.

When Esme and I had returned home from shopping the other day, Edward told us that Jasper was asleep in Alice's room. He'd been up there for hours and Edward had not heard a peep from him. Esme told Edward that we'd just let him be and then she went to call his mother so she wouldn't worry. I put Tanya down to play and then curled up on the couch with Edward. He told me what had gone down today with Jasper and I felt so bad that he and Alice were going through this.

"It's just temporary. They find their way back together." Edward kept saying that all night. Like he was trying to convince himself of that. I hoped he was right.

The next morning I woke to Edward wrapped around me. That wasn't unusual, but the fact that he felt like a hot water bottle was. I crawled out of bed and went to find Esme to get a thermometer. I was just closing our bedroom door when I heard Tanya start crying from her room. I loved the room they made up for her here.

After a quick diaper change, Tanya and I were on our way downstairs to get her some breakfast. I would have to tell Esme that Edward was sick and let her deal with him while took care of the baby. I knew that she would be thrilled. Not about Edward and Jasper being sick but about being able to take care of them and mother them. According to Carlisle, she's been having some serious empty nest issues. As we neared the stairs Jasper came stumbling out of Alice's room. One look was all it took to realize that he was sick too. I groaned and told him to go back to bed and Esme would be up soon. He tried to argue that he just wanted to go home. I reminded him that he didn't have a car with him here and was stuck. He looked like he was about to cry but turned and went back into Alice's room. I peeked into the room from the doorway and found that he had collapsed on the bed with his legs hanging off the side. Like he had sat down on the edge and just laid back.

Esme was really in her element taking care of the boys. It was really weird but she seemed almost thrilled that they were sick and needed to be taken care of. Edward had a fever of 102 so we made him move to Alice's room with Jasper, whose fever was just as high. I immediately stripped the bed in our room and washed everything.

Esme gave me a list of groceries and sent me to the store in her car. I took the opportunity to drop by my Dad's and drop off Tanya. It was going to be better if she stayed with them for the day, away from the germs and the chaos.

Esme and I spent the rest of the day making homemade soup and dousing the boys in Nyquil. We would take turns going up to check on them, but for the most part we usually found them fast asleep. Sleep was a good thing. Jasper's parents had dropped off his stuff around midday so Esme convinced him to change into some pajamas so he would be more comfortable and rest better. She was upset that she couldn't send some of the soup on the plane with us but there was no way that we were going to be able to get it through security.

This morning the boys were impossible to get out of bed and get dressed. We were running late because they were refusing to get out of bed. We finally had to leave or we were going to miss our flight but they were still in their pajamas so we let them stay in their pajamas. There were so many of us that we had to take two cars to get up to Seattle. Tanya and I rode with Dad, Sue, Seth, and Leah; while Edward and Jasper rode with Esme and Carlisle. Most of our luggage ended up in their trunk.

I was glad that the flight wasn't full today. There were a lot of empty seat and fewer people to complain and the two guys hacking up a lung in the back row of the plane. Leah was currently holding Tanya, who she managed to get to fall asleep for a nap, so I decided to go check on the boys. I found them fast asleep so I asked the flight attendant for a couple of pillows and she also returned with some blankets for them. She helped me cover them after I tucked the pillows under their heads.

Renata borrowed her mom van to pick us up from the airport. Renata gave me some tips on dealing with the flu, with as many kids as her family had it was common for at least one to be sick at any given time. When we got home Jess took Tanya for me while I got the boys to bed-in Jasper's room. Edward was not going to sleep with me again until he wasn't contagious anymore. Carlisle insisted that I was right in this. I didn't need to get sick with my heart issues. It could be quite dangerous for me.

But that didn't mean that I didn't miss Edward sleeping with me. I had a hard time getting to sleep without him right there beside me, holding me tight, groping me, and making love to me. I lay there in bed until it was the early hours of the morning before I gave up and got out of bed.

I found Jess in the living room doing yoga. I sat down on the couch and watched her try to contort her body into the poses the girl on the TV was in. She scowled at me when I started giggling at the new pose she was in, it looked almost painful.

"Shut up, Bella."

"How long have you been doing this?"

"My sponsor got me the DVD for Christmas, said that it would help me center myself and keep my head clear. She said it also helped her stay sober."

"Really?"

"Yeah. I just find it frustrating right now."

"So, are you ready to start school today?" I asked her. She and Leah were starting cosmetology school this morning. It's why we flew back when we did. Edward, Jasper, and I still had another week before our classes started.

"Mom doesn't think that I'll make it through."

"When did you talk to her?"

"She called on Christmas day. Dad called too. He was a bit more supportive."

"We're behind you all the way and you and Leah are going to be great at this. I expect free haircuts after you graduate."

"Sure," She laughed and then moved to change positions as the girl on the DVD did and fell over, which caused me to start laughing.

I got up off the couch and went to the kitchen to start the first of what would be several pots of tea for the day.

A/N:

Happy Tuesday!


	26. Chapter 26

OOO Chapter 26

Title

EPOV:

I'm dying. I'm going to die and I can't find Bella. Granted I haven't dragged my butt out of this bed to look. But I've been screaming for her and she hasn't answered me. I'm going to smack Jasper if he tells me to shut up one more time. I rolled over to try to get out of bed to go to the bathroom and another coughing fit hit me. I've coughed so much over the last few days that it hurts now. I think I pulled muscles in my sides and my back.

I finally calmed down enough to make it to the bathroom. While I was up, I decided that a shower would be a good thing. I can't remember the last time I took one; I just know that it's been days and I feel disgusting and I smell bad. It's no wonder Bella refuses to sleep with me.

After a steamy shower that did wonders for my stuffed up nose, I shuffled out to the kitchen. I was actually hungry and wanted some more hot tea. Hot tea is the best thing ever. I made it to the kitchen and sat down at the table, suddenly tired and out of energy. I looked around and realized that Bella was gone. I wondered where she went and why she didn't tell me she was leaving. I laid my head down on my arms on the table and willed myself not to fall asleep.

Apparently, I have no will left because the next thing I knew Bella was shaking my arm, "You left," I whined at her.

"I had to go to the store, you two needed more medicine and we all needed food. What are you doing out of bed?"

"I want food."

"You want some scrambled eggs?" I nodded and laid my head back down. "Why don't you go back to bed and I'll bring you your food when it's done.

I got up and wondered back to Jasper's room noticing that Tanya was happily playing with her blocks in the living room. I wanted to go sit with her and play with her but Bella would kill me if I got her sick, so I slipped past and fell back on the bed.

"I'm trying to sleep here asshole."

"I don't care. And you're the asshole. It's fault that I'm sick."

A few minutes later Bella came in carrying a tray with two plates of scrambled eggs and toast and two glasses of orange juice. "I have a pot of tea brewing. It should be ready by the time you're done eating." She handed out the food to both of us and left to make her and Tanya some lunch.

After we were done eating Jasper went to take a shower and I search for the remote to the TV. The food was a good idea and I was feeling a lot better. I was going to have to wait for Jasper to come out of the bathroom because I couldn't find the damn remote. So, I thought that I would be nice and take our plates back to the kitchen and put them in the sink. I heard Tanya and Bella laughing and playing in the living room. I didn't want to go back to bed again but decided that I'd better. I grabbed a stack of movies before I went back in and settled down.

I managed to sleep on and off all day but now I was wide awake and it was three in the morning. I couldn't take anymore of being in bed so I quietly made my way into the kitchen to get some more orange juice before stretching out on the couch. I flipped through the channels until I gave up and settled on some infomercial for some sandwich maker. I laid there until Jess came out of her room dressed in workout clothes and carrying a rolled up mat around five in the morning and asked if she could take over the TV. I nodded and decided to give her privacy to do what exercise routine she was into now. I had my hand on the handle to Jasper's room when I changed my mind. I was feeling a lot better and didn't think that I was contagious anymore. I was just tired and hacking like a ninety year old seal that chain smoked his whole life.

I missed sleeping with Bella and being with her. I missed her warmth and my bed. So, I went to our room and crawled in bed with her. I tried not to wake her up but she immediately rolled over and clung to me. I kissed her forehead and just enjoyed the feeling of holding her again.

I woke up hours later, alone, but feeling even better than I did when I crawled into the bed. I checked the time and was surprised to see that it was after eleven. I made my way to the living room to find Bella and Tanya there along with Renata. The second that Tanya saw me standing there she jumped up and ran for me, "DA DA!" I grabbed her into a big hug. It was amazing how much I'd come to love getting hugs from the little stinker.

I put her back down and she went back to playing with her cars and went to sit with Bella on the couch. Renata stayed for few more minutes then left saying she'd promised to help her mom with lunch. Bella and I stayed on the couch for a while until my stomach started growling. Bella giggled and offered to make me a sandwich. I told her that she didn't have to, that I could do it myself. But, she said that she was about to get up and get herself a snack anyway.

We spent the rest of the afternoon talking and making plans for the rest of the week. By dinner time, Jasper was feeling well enough to come join us in the living room and even ate dinner in the kitchen with us. It was the first time that I'd been able to hear Jess and Leah talk about their classes. I didn't quite understand why it took so many classes and time to learn to cut hair but they were absolutely loving it.

When Bella and I crawled into bed later that night, I really wanted to make love to her, but I was still just too weak. I found that the littlest thing exhausted me and forced me to rest a bit. I was already mostly gone by the time that Bella was done brushing her teeth. I just had enough energy left to pull her into my arms before I was completely gone.

A/N: Happy Thursday.


	27. Chapter 27

OOO Chapter 27

Leah's state of mind

LeahPov:

It's been over a month since we returned home from visiting our families in Forks for Christmas and Jasper hasn't been the same. I know exactly what he's going through. I was devastated when I lost Sam. I had been so sure of him and our relationship that I was completely blindsided by his betrayal. Alice didn't cheat on Jasper and I am told that it was a mutual decision, but the boy is absolutely devastated.

The boy also doesn't have a life. He goes to school and comes home. Ok, once in a while he'll go to a study group but he hasn't been out since he went to a frat party by himself and ended up so smashed that Edward and Jessica had to go get him. I stayed home with Tanya because Bella was out for the evening with Renata and Edward was smart enough to know that if he took her baby anywhere near a drunken frat party he'd end up castrated and sleeping on the couch for a very, very long time.

They were barely able to get him home and into the house. He was so drunk that he kept falling down. It took the three of us to get him into bed and while Edward got Jasper out of his clothes, Jessica went to get a glass of water and some aspirin to put on his nightstand for him for the morning. I moved the garbage can over by the bed. I got there just in time before he fell over the edge of the bed and started puking. We decided that he couldn't be left alone all night and decided to take turns sitting up with him.

It was a long, long night with Jasper. Especially after he missed the garbage twice while on my watch. If I didn't consider him a good friend, I would have been the cruel and vapid bitch that I was known to be to some people and punched him right in the stomach. But I decided to be kind and got a cool, wet wash cloth for his forehead and went about cleaning up the mess and scrubbing the carpet.

He was in worse shape when morning came and the hangover hit. Jessica gave Tanya every metal pan that she could find and some wooden spoons and was showing her how to use them as drums. I know that she did it on purpose to teach him a lesson about drinking. She'd had enough hangovers of her own to know how painful they were. When I asked her about it later she simply shrugged, "I wish someone had cared enough about to teach me a lesson like that. Maybe I wouldn't have followed Lauren so far down that path of destruction that she was on and hadn't screwed up my whole high school experience and messed up my future."

That was a few weeks ago and tonight was Valentines and since neither Jasper nor I had any plans we had volunteered to babysit so Edward and Bella could go out. Jessica had a date herself so it was only going to be the three of us.

Jasper was picking us up dinner from McDonald's and then we were going to watch movies and play with cars until it was time to put Tanya to bed. Then the two of us were going to do a horror movie marathon. The only thing that I knew about Edward's plans for him and Bella was that they weren't going to come home tonight. That was fine; Jasper and I were totally capable of watching an eighteen month old for one night.

Edward was still attempting to get Bella out of the house; she was running late from class. She had been running late getting home from class and now was running late getting out of the house for their date. Edward was going crazy trying to get her to calm down and not stress over being late.

Jessica had told me that Edward and she had gone to that little bookstore that Bella loved and bought her a couple copies of some old fashion classic love stories that he'd seen Bella looking at. That is what made Edward a great boyfriend. He was always think about her and putting her and Tanya first. I really want an Edward of my own.

Jasper made it back with dinner before Edward was able to get Bella out of the house, so thankfully Tanya was so wrapped up in her chicken nuggets and fries to notice her mom and dad leaving. She was at a stage where she would throw temper tantrums if Edward or Bella tried to leave her. It wasn't every time, but it was often enough to drive us crazy.

By the time she finished her supper and I got her bathed and in her pajamas she was already yawning and rubbing her eyes. With any luck she'd be out early and Jasper and I could get to our movie marathon. A half an hour later she was zonked in Jasper's arms, "I'll put her to bed if you make the popcorn."

By the time I came back from the kitchen he was putting "The Blob" in. Did I mention that it was a marathon of classic horror movies? After that we had "Dracula", "Frankenstein", and the original version of "The Fly."

We were well into our second movie when Jessica came home from her date. She was all smiles as she walked through the house. I was glad that she had a good night. She deserved to be happy. She slipped into our room and I focused my attention back on the movie.

Jasper went into the kitchen to get us more soda while I put the third movie in the DVD player. I'm not really sure how it happened or when I fell asleep but I woke the next morning lying on the couch with Jasper wrapped around my legs and feet. We were laying facing opposite directions on the couch and he was still very much asleep. I thought back to last night and the last thing that I could remember was us talking about our families and what we both wanted out of our futures. Alice was a damn fool for letting him get away. I hoped for her sake that she got her head out of her ass and they made things right before someone else snapped him up. Jasper was definitely one of those rare great guys that girls were always complaining didn't exist.

A/N:

Happy Monday! Sorry I didn't reply to reviews but I decided to post this tonight since it was done. I love and appreciate each and every review that I get and I do strive to answer them all because I also appreciate that you take your time to read my story and send me a review. They really do make my day better and I thank each and every one of you for reading.


	28. Chapter 28

OOO Chapter 28

Romance

EPOV:

I was nervous that I was doing the right thing. I hoped and prayed that Bella was going to like the plans that I made for us tonight. I think she will. I'm sure she will. We'd both been under a lot of stress with school and things at home lately. Our classes were piling on the work and we were both concerned about Jasper. He had started acting out and got totally plastered one night. It made me worry about how Alice was holding up. I had talked to Jane and Alec and they said that Alice was doing better than she was when she first returned to France but they were going to keep watching out for her anyway.

I had meant to call dad about taking Bella out to dinner and if she could go off her diet for the special occasion but I never got the chance. I didn't think that one meal would be an issue. She had been really good about sticking to her diet since Mom and Dad showed up that time and she had to undergo all those tests. She didn't cheat on her diet anymore. Neither did I for that matter. We'd gotten used to the restrictions and it was becoming easier on us now.

I had made reservations at a steakhouse for dinner because we never had steak anymore and I was really craving some and I knew that it was something that Bella used to love to have whenever possible. But we were limiting the amount of red meat that we ate per her doctor's orders.

Unfortunately she was running late getting home because her professor kept her after class to talk to her about a paper that she'd turned in. I tried not to be a complete asshole and rush her too much to get her out of the house but I am quite sure that I failed at that since she did tell me to leave her alone and wait in for her in the living room. I took that opportunity to make sure that Leah knew how to contact us in case of an emergency. Bella knew that we were going to dinner but she had no clue that we were no coming home tonight.

I had gone next door to see James and Victoria one day to ask if they knew of a romantic place that I could take Bella that wasn't too far away. It turned out that they owned a beach house an hour south of Los Angeles and they were more than willing to let us use it for the night. Victoria even ran down there to make sure that it was ready for us. I told her that I could have done that but she laughed and said that it was the least she could do to make sure we had a nice evening. Bella had been stressed and tired a lot lately and I really wanted to her have this night just to relax.

I had our bags packed and hidden in the trunk and I was so excited that I was literally vibrating. We hadn't been completely alone since that day at my parents' house. I was looking forward to the privacy big time. James offered to get a bottle of wine for us to share if I promised to be responsible and not go overboard or drive after drinking but I turned him down on that. Bella was warned that mixing alcohol with the medication she's on could cause a severe reaction. I was stupid enough to take a risk like that with her health or her life.

We were finally on our way and it looked like we were going to make our reservations after all. We both managed to calm down and leave the stress we had been feeling for almost the hour behind us.

The hostess at the restaurant seated us almost immediately once we arrived. It didn't take long at all for us to decide what we wanted. We both decided on the steak but chose healthier side options, basically to try to fool ourselves into believing that we were She told me about a project that she and Renata were going to be starting to work on for one of their classes. It seemed complicated and a lot of work but she was so excited about it.

It might be a little sad but I think that the best part of the dinner was that I wasn't going to have to mop the floor afterward and no food being thrown at me either. Okay, it was a lot sad. We finished our meals and then I suggested that we have dessert. From looking over the restaurant's menu on line I knew that they had an amazing looking chocolate cake. We each ordered a slice and decided to be really bad and order coffee to go with it. Deep down I knew that we should be being more responsible about what we were eating tonight but its Valentine's Day and it only comes once a year and I wanted it to be special for her.

The waitress came over with the bill and struck up a conversation with Bella while I got my credit card out of my wallet, "This is our Tanya." I heard Bella tell the woman while she pulled.

"She's an angel just like her mama."

"That she is, just as smart too," I laughed as I handed over the bill folder.

Once we were out in the car I turned to Bella, "There's one more place I have planned to take you tonight."

"Let's go then because I am definitely not ready to go home yet," she smiled at me as she reached over and grabbed my hand. I got onto the highway and drove us off to the PCH following the direction that James had given me.

Bella must have been curious about where we were headed but she didn't say anything. She just leaned over laying her head on my shoulder and trusted me. She was a bit confused when we pulled up to the house and I got out and opened her door for her. As I help her out of the car she stumbled a little, "Sorry, I got a little dizzy there for a second." I thought it was a little strange but put it out of my mind as I kissed her quickly and went to the trunk of the car and grabbed the bags.

"Are we staying here? Where ever here is?"

"We have the whole night here," I told her as I took her had in mine and led her up to the door, "Leah and Jasper know that we won't be back until sometime tomorrow."

I opened the door and led her into the house. It was perfect. There was a great living room with a huge glass wall that faced the beach. Along another wall there was a fireplace that Vicky had set up and was ready for me to light it. I dropped the bag and got the fireplace going while Bella wandered around the house. I found her in the master bedroom.

"This is beautiful," she whispered fingering the material that was draped around the bed frame.

"Would you rather sleep in here?"

"I love this bed but, no. It's tradition to spend Valentine's night sleeping on the floor in the living room." She kissed me before I led her back to the living room. I had had Vicky put a bottle of sparking Apple Cider in the fridge so I grabbed that along with a couple of glasses. When I returned to the living room Bella was standing at the wall of glass looking out. Did you pack any pajamas for us or did you just figure on us sleeping in the nude?"

I smiled and walked over to the bag. I opened the one that I had packed her one of her presents and handed it to her. Her other present, the main one, was still back at home. I knew from Jessica that she'd bought me something but we didn't know where she had put it. I didn't want her to feel bad that she didn't have the gift with her tonight so I figured that we would exchange gifts after we get home tomorrow.

When she came back out of the bathroom in the nightgown that I'd bought her she looked beautiful even if she was looking quite pale, even for her. We sat down in front of the fire and started making out almost immediately. We made love on the makeshift bed on the floor for hours before we finally few asleep in each other's arm. We hadn't even bothered to put our pajamas back on.

It was the early hours of the morning when Bella woke me up. She was frantically grasping at me and gasping to catch her breath, "Help! Some…thing…wrong….can't….can't breathe." It came out as no more than a whisper but in my head she could have been screaming. I sat up and saw her complexion was now a pale gray and she was clutching at her chest.

A/N:

I apologize for the delay but I wanted to make sure that the next chapter was done before I posted this so I didn't make you guys end up waiting for weeks for the continuation. I wouldn't be that cruel on purpose. I promise to post it on Wednesday. I know that you guys are going to be upset about this but I want to ask you to trust me here. This happened for a reason.


	29. Chapter 29

OOO Chapter 29

Terror

EPOV:

I grabbed my phone and called 911 while I sat next to Bella, stroking her hair in an attempt to comfort her, and promising her that everything would be alright. It had to be. I just couldn't believe anything else. After I had the ambulance on the way I called home.

"Dad!" I almost yelled into the phone when he answered, "I need you. Something is wrong with Bella." I told him everything that I could and he instructed me to get an aspirin out of Bella's bag and make her take it. I had forgotten that she was to always keep a bottle of aspirin with her. I just got the pill into her mouth and I could finally hear the ambulance approaching. Dad promised that he'd call Charlie and they'd be on their way as soon as possible. After promising to call and tell him which hospital they were taking Bella to I hung up the phone and ran to open the front door. I left it open for the paramedics but returned to Bella to hold her hand. She was starting to lose consciousness and that was scaring the hell out of me.

I rode in the ambulance with Bella, not wanting to be farther from her than the front seat and not trusting myself to be able drive. I listened as they kept assessing her and treating her. Her blood pressure was high. Way to high. When I heard them radio into the ER that she was having a heart attack I started crying. Part of me wished that Tanya was here so that I hold her and find comfort in her presence, but the bigger part of me was glad that she was soundly sleeping in her crib completely unaware that her mother was so ill.

I turned around and saw that Bella was hooked up to oxygen and they had started an IV. Her eyes were closed now and I was tempted to yell at her to open her eyes but I didn't. I just watched as the EMT worked frantically to stabilize her.

Three hours later I was sitting alone in a CCU room. They had taken Bella to run some more tests on her. My parents and hers were on their way to the airport in Seattle right now and I had yet to call our friends. I didn't want to wake them and besides, they'd be stuck there going crazy while they waited for Tanya to wake up. They wouldn't be allowed in here anyway. They weren't family. Except for Leah and I wasn't sure if step-sisters counted with the CCU. The only reason that they let me in the room was that I was carrying the documents that gave me the right to make medical decisions for her should she be unable to. I got to stay with Bella, for the most part, and the doctor told me what was happening. I know that I would have gone insane if they had kept me in the dark about what was happening to her. I thought my dad was being morbid and crazy for having Bella sign them, but I was going to kiss him for this when I saw him.

Four hours after that I was still sitting in the CCU room, but I was no longer alone. Bella was back and even though she wasn't conscious, I was holding her hand and was talking to her.

"I love you sweetheart. Tanya and I, we need you. We can't live without you, baby. Sleep for now so that you get better and you can come home to us."

"Edward?" My head shot up and turned toward the door where Dad, Sue, and Charlie were standing. I stood up and walked toward them. As soon as I got close to Sue she reached out and grabbed me into a hug as Dad stood there flipping through Bella's charts and test results. Charlie patted me on the back as he went to Bella's side and sat down in the chair that I had just vacated.

"Your Mom is in the waiting room. There can only be two visitors in here at a time. Sue and I don't count since I'm Bella's doctor and Sue's my nurse." I nodded.

"Have you eaten today?" Sue asked me. I shook my head no and Dad sighed.

"She's stable for now. Why don't you go on and get something to eat and see your Mom before she angers the entire nursing staff by marching in her to get to you and the two of you can go down to the cafeteria. You have to keep your strength up, son. Besides, Leah is frantic to get in here herself." I wasn't hungry but I went anyway.

I walked into the waiting room and saw the room was full of our family and friends. Leah took off down the hall towards Bella's room as soon as she saw me. I didn't care. All I really saw was Tanya in my mother's arms and I made a beeline for them, grabbing the baby from her and holding her as tightly to me as I could.

All of them followed Tanya and me down to the cafeteria. The only thing that I said the whole time was asking if Tanya had eaten breakfast yet. Jasper said that he'd fed her but it had been awhile since she ate. I grabbed a bagel and a hot tea and a muffin and milk for Tanya and moved to find an open space big enough for all of us. None of them pressed me for answers and that was good because I didn't want to talk about it in front of Tanya. I knew that she wouldn't understand what we were saying but Bella would be upset if I did it, so I didn't.

After Tanya was done destroying the muffin, which I think she only ate about a quarter of, Jess volunteered to take her to clean her up and promised that she'd meet us upstairs. I started talking. Once I started I just couldn't stop until I got everything out. By the time that I was done, I was in tears and Mom and I were the only ones left at the table. Seth and Jasper had slipped out without me realizing it. Mom held me until I was calmer and then we made our way back upstairs.

When we made it back up to the CCU waiting room, the nurses told me that Dad wanted to talk to me. I asked mom come with me. I was prepared to fight the nurses tooth and nail to take mom with me but they didn't say a word. I briefly wondered if I should feel worried about that, if they were being lenient because I was about to get bad news, but I quickly pushed that thought out of my head.

We reached Bella's room and found Dad and Sue standing outside the room talking and still flipping through all the papers in Bella's chart. Neither one of them looked happy at what they were reading. They saw us coming and Dad leaned in and called for Charlie to follow him leaving Leah to keep Bella company. Dad took us down to a consultation room and we sat around the table.

Dad stared at the file in front of him for a minute before he started talking, "Bella did have another massive heart attack and it was pretty bad. I don't think that she'll need surgery at this point and I don't want to if it can be avoided but she will be here for at least the next couple of weeks. After that she will have to rest and avoid as much stress as possible which means that she'll have to drop her classes this semester. We can see about next semester later on. But I have to tell you that after seeing all her test results, well, I can't say that she'll make a complete recovery as there has been a lot of damage to her heart. I believe the damage is permanent and will plague for the rest of her life. That being said I do believe she will recover to a certain extent. I do believe that she can return to school at some point in the future and have a meaningful life with some limitations. But that's a discussion for later."

I nodded knowing that Bella was going to be upset at having to quit school, even if it was only for a semester. I just hoped that they didn't think that Bella was going to return to Forks without me. I'd drop out before I let her and Tanya go like that.

"I'd like to stay and help you out, Edward. Would you mind if I stayed on your couch?"

"Thanks Mom. I appreciate that, but you can take our bed, Mom, I'll sleep on the couch when I come home."

"Edward," Charlie started, "We need to put Tanya first. I was thinking that we could alternate nights. One night I stay with Bella and the next I'll stay with Tanya. Okay?"

I nodded knowing that arguing with Charlie wasn't going to get me anywhere. Bella was going to live and stay with me and that was all that I needed to know at this point.

A/N:

It's Wednesday right? Well close enough. Deep breaths. She's had a lot of damage to her heart over the last couple of years and that will affect her for the rest of her life. Everything that I write happens for a reason so please trust me. I'll update again as soon as I can.


	30. Chapter 30

OOO Chapter 30

The Waiting Game

EPOV:

We were taking turns rotating from the waiting room to Bella's room all day. I hated the waiting. We had to wait for more test results. We had to wait for her to wake up. That was the hardest. I didn't want to go home but I needed to get Tanya home and into her bed. Mom and I rode with Leah and Jasper who had brought Bella's car since it had a car seat. They drove me back to the beach house to get my car. Mom drove my car while I sat in the passenger seat trying my hardest not to fall asleep. I was so exhausted from not getting more than two hours sleep the night before. Charlie, Dad, and Sue were staying at the hospital and promised to call me if anything happened. I hated the idea that she might wake up without me being that and I hated that idea that she wouldn't wake up soon either. My mind was running in so many circles.

By the time that Mom pulled off the freeway I was in tears so she pulled the car over. I told her that it was my fault that Bella had the heart attack because of the dinner I took her out to last night. She told me that she didn't think that it my fault, not entirely. The dinner may have contributed to it or set it off but it would have happened even if she'd stuck to her diet last night. She had listened as Dad was talking to Bella's doctor here and going over all of the test results he'd gotten over the last few months compared to todays. Bella had seemed to be getting better, then, in the last set of test her blood pressure and cholesterol were starting to rise. He'd decided to watch her and see what happened with the next set of tests before making any change to her meds in case it was a fluke. I remember Dad talking about that and saying that he'd have done the same thing. She didn't think that any one thing caused it nor could any one thing could have been done to prevent it.

Once we finally made it home, Leah was just finishing giving Tanya her bath and Jasper was on sitting on the couch talking on the phone. I was surprised when it became obvious that he was talking to Alice. I'm not sure who told her what was going on, but it was apparent that some had. Jasper was trying to tell her what he knew, which wasn't much.

I took Tanya from Leah and took her to her bedroom and sat down in the rocking chair. I grabbed the book of the table next to the chair and began reading, "Oh the Places You'll Go!" to her. She was out before I was done reading but I continued to sit there and rock her. I wasn't ready to let go of her just yet.

A half hour later, Jasper came to check on me. "Alice said she'd call you tomorrow. She tried to call you earlier, when you didn't answer and then the rest of us weren't answering our phones. I found the missed call from her so I called her back. She wanted to come back but I told her to stay put.

"There really isn't much any of us can do but sit and wait."

"That's what I told her. I promised that we'd keep her informed on what going on."

I thank him, transferred Tanya to her crib, and followed him out into the living room. Mom was in the kitchen looking around the cabinets. I wandered in and poured myself some juice and sat down at the table.

"I was just seeing what was here to feed Tanya for breakfast. I thought I'd get a plan in my head now. She still likes oatmeal right?"

"Yeah, with bananas or scrambled eggs, but I don't think we have any eggs. Bella and I were going to go to the store today."

"Don't worry about it, honey, Tanya and I will go tomorrow." I just nodded my head.

"I'm going to take a quick shower and then you can go to sleep in my room."

"Edward, I'll be fine on the couch. I don't want to put you out of your room because I offered to stay and help."

"I know, Mom, but I really don't want to sleep in there with Bella not there. I just don't think that I can."

"I understand completely. I think that I'd be the same way if it was your Dad. I'll stay in there until Bella comes home. Then I'll take the couch." I nodded again and walked off to get ready for bed.

The next morning I woke up to the smell of breakfast cooking. I found Mom flipping pancakes. She looked over her shoulder and smiled, "Have you guys tried pancakes with Tanya before because she seems to absolutely love them.

"Uh, no we haven't. I don't think that we'd even considered it. Breakfast is usually rushed." I looked over to where Tanya was sitting in her high chair, happily playing with her breakfast. She had maple syrup all over her. It was even in her hair.

"Don't worry about the mess. I'll take care of it. I thought that I'd stay here with her today and we could play all day."

"Thanks. I really didn't want her to sit in the hospital again. Bella wouldn't like it."

"Edward, I know it's hard to even consider it, but you have to go back to class on Monday." I opened my mouth to argue. "Bella will be awake by then and you can't get behind in your coursework. That's not negotiable." I knew better to argue with her at this point. She was right. I had two tests next week and my professors weren't the type to care that my girlfriend was sick. Their rule was unless I was hospitalized there was no excuse for missing a test and no makeup exam would be given.

After eating and getting dressed, I grabbed my book bag and went to kiss Tanya and Mom goodbye and headed out for the hospital. She handed me a duffle bag and asked that I give it to dad when I saw him. I turned on the radio in an attempt to keep me from thinking about anything but the road in front of me.

I ran into Sue and Charlie as I was entering the hospital. They were just getting off the elevator as I walked in the door. "Are you guys just leaving?"

"Yeah, I managed to doze a little in the chair in Bella's room but Sue's been up all night. We're exhausted."

"Are you headed back to our house?"

"No, I don't want to be that far away from her right now. I called and found a hotel close by. Your dad is crashing in a call room for a couple of hours."

I continued up to Bella's room and pulled out a book to study. I was sitting pretty much alone all morning. The only time anyone came in was when the nurses came in to work. The only time I left was to run downstairs and grab a bagel and juice for lunch. I ate in her room. I was afraid that she'd wake up while I was gone and be all alone and scared. Jess and Leah had to be at work and Mom said that Jasper promised to help her with something at the house. I don't know what. I didn't really care. I know that sounds horrible but the only thing I was concerned about this morning was getting back to Bella. I sighed, shut my book and dropped it on top of my book bag that was lying at my feet. I rubbed my face with my hands and closed my eyes for a minute. When I opened them, I looked over at Bella and found her beautiful chocolate colored eyes looking right back at me.

A/N:

Happy Tuesday! Ummm. This will be the last update until sometime after Thanksgiving. I am leaving for a trip on Tuesday and have to put in extra hours at work this week so they'll let me keep my vacation and holiday. Yeah, they tried to cancel it on me because they just HAVE to do some conversion thing Thanksgiving week. Yeah, my bosses are too bright. Sorry. I'm still angry. Anyway, between work, packing, doing a holiday before I leave, and sqeezing in seeing breaking dawn 2, I'm going to be a very busy girl. Plus, I still have to finish Assumptions Chapter 16 before Saturday.


	31. Chapter 31

OOO Chapter 31

Waking Moments

BPOV:

I looked over at Edward and wanted to cry. He looked so tired and sad. I was worried about what had happened to me. The last thing that I remembered was waking up to this incredible pain in my chest.

Edward finally looked at me and realized that I was awake, "Oh God, Bella! Thank God you're awake." He leaned over me and kissed me. "I was so worried. We all were." He grabbed the remote thingy next to my bed and hit a button. It was only a second later when another voice sounded in the room, "Nurse's station. What can I do for you?"

"Can you call my Dad…uh…Dr. Cullen… and tell him that Bella is awake."

"Yes, sir. I'll be right down myself to check on her."

I continued to stare at Edward. It was weird that I felt like I couldn't catch my breath, "Your Dad is here?"

"Yeah, I called him while I was waiting for the ambulance to get to us." I nodded.

"Tanya?"

"She's at home with my mom. You're dad and Sue are here too. They got a hotel room nearby. I'll call him after Dad looks at you."

He grabbed my hand and squeezed it. When I looked back up at him, I noticed that he was crying. "You scared me Bella. I thought I was going to lose you." I didn't know how to answer that so I just closed my eyes again.

It was only a few minutes later when Dr. Cullen came in with my doctor I'd been seeing here.

I was devastated and angry when they told me I had to drop out for the rest of the semester. Edward moved to sit next to me on the bed and he held me while I cried. It wasn't fair. I had been good about following my diet. I cheated one night, Valentines night.

"You need to calm down Bella," Dr. Cullen reminded me looking at the heart monitor that I was attached to. It had started to spike with my irritation.

I wanted to see my daughter but they told me that she wasn't allowed into the Cardiac Care Unit. Something about germs and the safety of the patients. I understood that but I hated that I was going to have to wait so long to see my baby.

They finished their examinations and left me soon after that, "Edward? Do you want me to call Charlie for you?"

"Yeah and mom too?"

"That's a given, son. I wouldn't dare step foot near her if I neglected to call her with an update. I'm going to go run some stuff down to the lab, I'll be back later."

Edward sat with me just holding my hand and trying to reassure me, "Everything's going to be fine. One semester behind won't make that much of a difference. I was thinking, you could make it up with some summer classes and be back on schedule."

"Edward, I was already falling behind when your dad ordered me to drop to half time. This is going to put me so far behind everyone else."

"So what. So it takes you a little longer to graduate. The main point is just to graduate no matter how long it takes." I nodded at him he had a point but I was too tired to continue this conversation so I let my eyes drift close and fell asleep.

When I woke again it was to the sound of my father's voice. I opened my eyes to see him and Edward standing by the door arguing. I remained quiet and tried to hear what they were saying.

"Edward go. You need to eat."

"I'm fine."

"You'll be no good to her or the baby if you collapse on us. Take Seth and get the both of you dinner. We'll discuss who is staying the night here tonight when you get back."

"Go Edward." I told him. All three of them turned towards me in surprise.

"Come on Edward. I'm starving. I hope they have pizza or burgers." And he bolted out of the door before Edward could argue with him. Edward came over to me and kissed me on the forehead, "I'll be back as soon as I can. I love you."

"I love you, too."

As soon as Edward was gone Dad came over and sat in the chair beside me, "You scared the hell out of me, little girl. And you nearly gave that boy a heart attack of his own."

"Sorry, Dad."

"Don't apologize. It's nothing that you can help or control. Carlisle is talking about totally revamping your meds."

"Yeah, he told me that too. And that I can't go back to school." I pouted.

"Don't get petulant. Be thankful that you are still alive. It came too close again."

"Dr. Cullen also said that he wants to keep a closer eye on me. Like more doctor visits and stuff. Does that mean that Tanya and I will have to move back to Washington?"

"Don't want to live with your dear old Dad anymore? I'm hurt." I went assure him that that wasn't the case, well not really, but I found him smiling at me.

"It's not nice to tease a sick person."

"I guess not, but that doesn't mean that it's not fun though. As for your question, not unless you want to. But I am pretty positive that if you try to come back with me Edward is going to throw a massive fit and there is no doubt in my mind that he'd drop out of school himself to follow you. We all think that it would be better all-around if you just stay here."

We talked a little more. It didn't really surprise me that Edward was trying to stay with me at all time and still try to take care of Tanya too. Dad suggested that I consider some options with Tanya. He told me that the hardest part of being a parent was doing what was best for your child even if it killed you to do it. He'd hated the idea of Mom taking me and moving away but thought that a little girl needed her mother, so even though it broke his heart, he let me go. I knew on some level that he was right. I was going to be stuck in bed recuperating for a long time and wouldn't be able to care for her by myself. I wasn't totally convinced that that was the way to go and told Dad that. And I needed to discuss it with Edward. I couldn't make a decision that big without talking to him. He was her father in every way that counted. He loved the both of us and deserved to have his opinion heard and taken into account.

He returned no more than a half hour after he and Seth had left for dinner. "Where's Seth?" I asked when I noticed that he was alone.

"They only allow two visitors at a time. He's in the waiting room with Mom, Leah, and Jasper. Oh, before I forget, Alice sends her love and hopes you get better soon. She's going nuts over there. Jasper had to promise to call every time there's news to keep her from flying back here."

"Jasper and Alice are talking?"

"Yeah. If there could be said that anything good had come from this, I would say that that is it."

I smiled at him, he was right. Those two belonged together and maybe they needed this time apart to see it but I had faith that they would work it out."

"Bells? I'm going to go stretch my legs and get something to eat so Esme can come on in. She hasn't been to see you since her and Edward left last night. Besides, my precious granddaughter is out there and it's my turn to take care of her. Edward and Esme have been hogging her since we got here," he laughed as he walked out of the door.

A/N:

I'm back. I had a great vacation and Thanksgiving and I hope that you did to. Thank you for understanding my need for doing Nano and my break. I hope to update more often but it is Christmas season. "Ho ho ho and all of that." I just want to take a moment and tell you that I am thankful for every one of you. Every one that reads and everyone that leaves a review. Just a quick mention, I posted a new outtake in the Follow Your Heart Outtakes and Assumptions will update this weekend.


	32. Chapter 32

OOO Chapter 32

Tired

BPOV:

It has been three months since I was released from the hospital. I've been uber strict about my diet and exercise. I've even started to take a yoga class with Jess. So far I am doing better. There have been a few bad lab reports and high blood pressure readings but for the most part Carlisle is happy with where I am.

The nearly two weeks that I ended up being in the hospital were some of the longest of my life. I missed my baby girl even though Edward and Sue managed to find ways to sneak her in to see me a couple of times. I can tell you that I was a much better patient after getting to hold her. I had been pretty cranky due to my frustration at not having her near me. I hated being away from her for any length of time. It always made me feel like there was a piece of me missing if she wasn't around.

That was pretty much why after some discussion between Edward and me, we decided to ask Esme to stay with us while I recovered. Send Tanya to Forks was not something that either of us wanted and Esme was amazing. She was always the type to be helpful without being overbearing. Esme was thrilled that we wanted her here. Sue needed to go home with Seth and get back to work or we would have asked her to help. I knew she'd understand and she did.

Esme ended up spending the rest of February and all of March staying with us to help with Tanya. She did go home a couple of times on the weekends to see her husband and take care of things at home I would go with her to have appointments with Carlisle as well. No one thought it was a good idea for me to travel alone with Tanya and there was no way that I could leave her. Edward's classes were extremely demanding and he was spending a lot of time studying. For the first couple of weeks after I came home from the hospital, I would get tired easily and need to rest a lot. If she hadn't been there, it would have taken me a lot longer to recover.

Edward and everyone else in the house were often away at school or work and that would have left me alone with Tanya quite a bit. And that would have been very dangerous given the way that I would just fall asleep without warning. It would be the middle of the afternoon and I would be sitting on the floor watching Tanya play and the next thing I knew it was dinner time and I was waking up on the couch. Either Edward or Jasper would pick me up and move me depending on who got home first. At first I was embarrassed by it and thought it wasn't normal, because it wasn't normal for me but after a talk with Carlisle about it, he convinced me that my body was still in need of a lot of rest to continue to recover and I should sleep whenever my body felt the need or risk hindering my recovery.

Esme was completely, amazing she did some research and found a ton of new recipes that were acceptable with my diet that were really good. I came to really enjoy sitting in the kitchen with her in the afternoons while we worked on dinner together. We would talk about a whole variety of different things while we worked. Well, mostly I sat at the table and cut the vegetables and made salad.

Alice called constantly the first month, until I finally convinced her that I was on the mend and she didn't need to worry so much. I promised her that if anything else happened Edward or Jasper would call her right away. After that she only called a couple of times a week, mostly through Skype so that she could see Tanya.

Today Edward was taking his last final exam. I was excited because we would be heading off to Forks in the morning. Rose and Emmett were already back there. Their semester had ended two weeks ago and they both flew into Los Angeles to see us for a couple of days before heading home. It had been so great to see them again.

Emmett got here first, and the second he got to us, he grabbed me into a big hug, "Don't ever scare us like that again, Bella. Rose and I were damn near ready to drop everything and fly out here. You're family to us."

As with when Esme stayed with us, Jasper volunteered his room and opted to sleep on the couch. He said that he didn't mind. That the couch was comfortable and besides he and Edward were most likely going to be up late studying and that way Rose and Emmett weren't put out by the late night study sessions. He was right. Edward barely got any sleep the last couple of weeks.

I smiled as I heard the car pull into the drive way, "Sweetie! Daddy's home!"

"Daddy!" Tanya squealed as she ran into the kitchen and headed straight for the glass doors that she knew he come through. I smiled as I turned from the stove to watch them. Tanya had grown so much over the last six months. And her vocabulary had exploded on us. Leah suggested that it was because I was here working with her all the time now.

"There's my angels," Edward dropped his book bag before he swept her up in his arms and carried her with him and he came over to kiss me. "Is that Apricot Chicken? Baby, you are an angel!" He kissed me again before collapsing on a chair at the table. Tanya wiggled her way off his lap and ran back to the living room.

"So, how do you think you did?"

"Good. I feel really good at both of them."

"That's great, Edward."

"So, are you ready for your test next week?"

"Yeah. As much as I've actually loved staying home with Tanya, I really want to get back to school." I paused and turned to the fridge to take the salad out. "Do you think that makes me a bad mother?"

"Bella, you are an amazing mother. But you are more than a mom. You deserve to have a life and a career outside of her and this house if that is what you want."

"What if your Dad says that I can't return to school in the fall. Then what?"

"Then we'll deal with the situation when it arrives like we always do. We'll sit down and talk about every option." I nodded and turned to pull dinner out of the oven and Jasper came into the kitchen with Tanya who was carrying the plane that Rose bought her. "Bella, you have to start teaching her now not to get stuck behind gender stereotypes." It ended up being her favorite toy. She carries it everywhere with her; she even sleeps with it every night. God forbid you should accidentally forget it because she will throw a fit.

After dinner Jess and Leah offered to clean up since I cooked and Edward and Jasper were barely awake. I had plans anyway, I had put our favorite movies in our room, one that was Tanya friendly and a few that weren't for after I put her to bed. I knew that Edward was exhausted but he was fighting it.

"Go to sleep if you're tired, it's fine."

"No. I want to put her to bed. I haven't gotten to do that in a while." I nodded as her picked up Tanya. He held her down to me to kiss good night before leaving with her. I decided to grab a shower while he was gone. I took my time thinking that Edward would be in bed, asleep, by the time that I got out.

When I stepped out of the bathroom, I was surprised to find that he wasn't there. I went straight to Tanya's room to see if she was giving him a hard time about falling asleep. What I found melted my heart. Edward was sitting in the rocking chair holding her and they were both fast asleep.

A/N:

Happy Monday! A little time jump here. Hopefully another update around the weekend. I hope.


	33. Chapter 33

OOO Chapter 33

How

EPOV:

I woke up alone in bed with the sunlight streaming through the window blinding me. I hadn't meant to fall asleep putting Tanya to bed. I had wanted to go back to Bella and make love to her since it had been almost two week since the last time. Finals had been grueling for Jasper and I had spent more late nights out in the living room with him than in bed with Bella. It sucked big time. Especially after we had had to wait two months after her heart attack for her to be cleared to have sex again. It was a little awkward to have to go to my father and ask if she could, but I figured sucking it up and being mature was better than endangering Bella's life even more. It was a good thing that I asked because Dad told me no, it wasn't a good idea at this point.

Bella wasn't any happier than I was about being on a sex ban, it was hard to sleep next to her every single night and not be able to touch her. And I mean hard in the literal sense of the word although she seemed more frustrated and crankier about it than I was. Maybe I was just better at hiding my frustration. But frustrated we both were because I wasn't going to do anything about my problems if she couldn't. The whole idea of it seemed wrong, like I was an asshole.

I crawled out of bed to find Bella and Tanya playing in the living room. Tanya was running around with the airplane that Rose bought her. I stood back and watched them smile and laugh for a minute before I made my presence known. I went to sit on the floor with them and join in on play time. That was just one more thing that I hadn't been able to enjoy for the last couple of weeks.

It wasn't long after I woke up that Bella got up and started breakfast. She had been spending a lot of time on Skype with my sister since February getting cooking tips, recipes, and with Alice altering recipes that they found online to be heart healthy. Today's breakfast was waffle with homemade peach compote instead of syrup.

Little by little everyone started trickling into the kitchen and ate their breakfast. I knew that it made Bella feel better about not being in classes this semester if she at least felt useful around the house. After she was done eating, Bella turned to the sink to start cleaning up but Jessica stopped her, "I'll take care of it. You guys need to get going or you'll miss your flight. Say hi to everyone for me."

Once again Jessica was not returning to Forks but was staying here. Jasper and Leah would be back in a couple of weeks so Bella and I weren't worried about her being here alone too long since Bella and I would be gone for a month. We were going to spend two weeks in Forks to spend time with her family and then we were going to the Bahama's with my parents. Alice only got a two week break from classes and she was going to meet us with her new boyfriend, Alec. I expected Jasper to be angry when he found out, but he was really more resigned than anything.

When I was finally done eating and cleaning up Tanya, I handed her off to Jasper to watch while I went to grab a shower. I was hoping to still catch Bella in the shower but I was too late. She was already out and dressed. I found her sitting on the side of the bed blow drying her hair. I was tempted to throw a temper tantrum like the ones that Tanya throws when she doesn't get her way. And boy, could she throw a fit.

When I got out of the shower Bella was gone and so were out suitcases. We had to pay extra fees for the extra bags but we were going to be gone so long and to two very different climates. I found Bella in the kitchen packing a few things into Tanya's diaper bag. From the window I could see Jasper loading the last of our suitcases into Renata's mother's van. We would have to leave soon if we were going to make it through security. Bella was on quite a few medicines and she had to take with her and that with Tanya's diaper bag and entertainment bag it was going to take us forever to get past those TSA guys.

On the ride to the airport I looked over at Bella who was sitting next to me. She was leaning over and rummaging through a bag on the floor and I could see down her shirt. Man, I needed to have sex. Tanya's screams when Bella was taking too long looking for whatever it was that she had wanted in the bag made me glad that Tanya was going to be spending the next few nights staying with Charlie and Sue.

It was a long flight and we were all tired by the time that we landed in Seattle. Dad had ventured up alone to get us in Sue's minivan. I knew something was up before Dad even drove straight to our house. As we pulled into the driveway I wasn't really surprised to see Rose's car and her parent's car there too. Bella, however, got really excited at the idea that Rose was there. We'd just seen her and Emmett a couple of weeks ago when they spent a long weekend with us on their way home for their schools.

Everyone came running out of the house to meet us at the car. We stood there for at least a half an hour hugging each other. Tanya had been grabbed and I didn't think that we were going to see her again tonight.

We finally made it into the house. Emmett and I grabbed the bags that belonged to Bella and me and we carried them upstairs.

"How's Jasper dealing with Alice dating?"

"He's been calm about it, like he doesn't even care."

Emmett shook his head, "I'd go ballistic if it was Rose.

"I would be that accepting of Bella moving on. I don't get it. I'd fight like hell to keep Bella. Hell, I've had to fight to keep her alive. I don't understand why he's just giving up."

"Me either man. So, how is Bella doing?"

"She's good. She's going to have some more tests run while were here, though. Dad says they're only precautionary."

"Ok. Next question. I meant to ask when we were in LA but I never got you alone when you weren't working or Rose wasn't with us. How are _you_ really doing?"

"I'm ok. It still scares me that we came so close to losing her. I don't know what I'd do if I lost her."

"Can I ask who would get custody of Tanya if, God forbid, she should, well, you know?"

"Legally. Charlie. He's family and I'm not. No court would give her to me over Bella's father."

"Have you considered adoption?" My head shot up. Sure, I had considered it. Especially those days when I was sitting in the hospital with Bella.

"I want to. I just don't know how to ask Bella about it. What if she says no? That would crush me."

A/N:

Ok. Sorry for the delay. I meant to write this yesterday but a package got delivered to our offices yesterday that was leaking Nitrous Acid. All 40 floors of our building were evacuated and forced to sit outside for an hour which screwed up the rest of my day. Next update will be whenever I can write it. Hopefully in a few days.


	34. Chapter 34

OOO Chapter 34

Forks

BellaPOV:

Even though Dad and Sue left early to take Tanya home with them and put her to bed, Leah and Seth stayed to hang out with us. Rose and Jasper's parent's left early as well and Carlisle and Esme decide to head upstairs to let us kids hang out on our own. We watched movies and gossiped until past midnight. We walked our friends out to their cars and I just couldn't believe that Seth was sixteen now and a licensed driver. He drove Leah home and obviously Jasper rode with Rose and Emmett.

As soon as they were gone and Edward and I were in the house, Edward grabbed me, backed me against the front door and kissed me hard. And the kiss wasn't the only thing that was hard either. I could feel him when he leaned against me.

"I want you Bella."

I grabbed him, kissing him before leaned up and whispered in his ear, "Then take me." I laughed as he reached down, picked me up and threw me over his shoulder. "Put me down, Edward!"

"Shh!" He laughed. "You don't want my parent's to hear you." He actually carried me all the way upstairs to our room. I waited until we were in the room with the door closed before I reached down and pinched his butt. His response was to drop me on the bed. I reached up and grabbed his shirt and pulled him down on top of me. I'd missed this lately. He had needed to concentrate on finals these last couple of weeks. But now we had the next month together with no classes and I was going to make the most of it.

I guess he felt the same way because he didn't waste any time pulling my shirt off and going for my bra. He'd always loved my boobs and God how I loved how it felt when he'd touch them, both with his hands and his mouth. He always did the most amazing things with his tongue. Especially when he would go down on me, but there was no way that he even think of doing that with his parents just down the hall and probably still awake.

I reached down and popped the button on his jeans and carefully pulled down the zipper before reaching into his boxers and wrapping my hand around him, making him moan. He was still sucking on my nipple when he moaned and the vibration of it made me shudder a little.

It was only minutes later that we were both naked and I was straddling him. This was one of our favorite positions. It not only felt amazing but I loved the level of control that it gave me. Especially when, most of the time, I felt that I had little to no control over my life and body.

After we were done, we laid there in each other's arms. We were both still completely naked but neither of us were in a hurry to get dressed right away. I loved these moments with Edward. When it was just me and him and us. We talked about things that we wanted to do while we were in Forks and while we were on our trip with his family. Neither of us could wait to see Alice again. I had never had a sibling until Dad married Sue and I got a brother and sister in Leah and Seth. But it seemed like it was harder for Edward to be apart from Alice. Jasper was the same way about his separation from Rose so maybe it was a twin thing.

We started talking and we laid there until we were getting too tired to stay awake and decided that we'd better through something on before we fell asleep. Esme wouldn't walk in on us unless it was an emergency but I thought that it would be rude to sleep naked in his parents' house. I certainly wouldn't disrespect my father in his house like that.

As it was, Carlisle knocked on our door in the morning. I heard Edward call out to him that he could come in. In the beginning I'd felt completely self-conscious about his parents, or mine for that matter, seeing us in bed together, but the longer that we lived together the more normal it seems. It really became easier when Esme stayed with us. She have to knock on our door often in the morning when we'd forget and leave something of Tanya's in our room when we went to bed the night before. It's not like they didn't know that we were having sex either. They all knew that we'd had sex the night that I'd had my heart attack. I had to drop all pretenses of modesty in favor of my health.

Carlisle had come up to see if we wanted to join him and Esme at the diner for breakfast. When we accepted his invitation he left us to get dressed. I started to climb out of bed and Edward reached out and pulled me back, kissing me and telling me that he loved me.

I rode with Esme and Edward decided to ride with his Dad. Carlisle had to head off to work after breakfast. Esme, Edward, and I were planning to head up to Port Angeles for the day.

"So, how have you been feeling? Edward said that he's been quite busy the last couple of weeks."

"I'm good Esme. I had a couple of days that I got really tired, but I called Vickie and had her come sit with us for the afternoon. I even took a nap those days and let her take Tanya to the park."

"Good. We all love you Bella and we want you to be safe and healthy. You just let me know if I start becoming the overbearing mother in law."

I laughed at her, "Esme I doubt that you ever could be. I hope you know just how much we appreciate you helping us so much."

"I was happy to help, dear."

We pulled into the parking lot at the same time that Edward and his father did. They parked right next to us and both of them hurried over to open our car doors for us. Edward held my hand as we walked to the entrance of the diner. Edward opened the door and held it for me to enter first. I was watching him and not where I was going so I was surprised when I ran right into someone exiting the diner. I looked up and was shocked to find myself face to face with Angela Webber.

A/N:

Ok. Since I can't update Assumptions I thought I'd give you guys an update of this. If use Cox Communications for email you know my frustrations if you don't well...their email system crashed on Friday and they are still trying to fix it. I can't read or send emails at all. That means that the file of Assumptions that I emailed myself after I worked on it at work is stuck in no mans land right now. As soon as I get it, and put the finishing touches on it I will update. Being that the work week is starting might take a few days. I'm sorry about that. Maybe I'll try to get another update of this and see what happens with Angela.


	35. Chapter 35

OOO Chapter 35

Stunning

EPOV:

It had been a year since the last time we'd seen Angela but here she was in front of us. You would think that she'd be over it by now. Bella and I were. Really, we never thought about Angela. She didn't matter to us, but with the way that she was glaring at Bella it was obvious that she was still as psychotic as ever. I wrapped my arm around Bella's waist and urged her forward. The best thing that we could do would be to just ignore her. But I really didn't see that option as being realistic or even remotely possible. I turned my head to see that my parents were still standing by the car discussing something. I wished that they'd hurry up and catch up with Bella and me. There was a better chance that Angela would behave herself if Mom and Dad were within earshot. It wasn't a guarantee but a better possibility.

"What? No 'hello' for an old friend?" She asked turning her attention to me and batting her eyes. I think she was trying to be flirty but she just ended up making herself look ridiculous. I rolled my eyes and took a step closer to Bella. I guess we weren't going to get past her that easily. I looked back for my parents again, I was glad that they were here but I wished they hurry up and catch up with us and save us from dealing with Angela. She'd have to be a complete idiot to start anything in front of them.

"You're not our friend, Angela. A 'friend' would never have treated Bella the way that you did. Friends don't disrespect their friends like that." I urged Bella forward again. "Excuse us. I don't want Bella to get stressed unnecessarily. It's not good for her."

Angela opened her mouth to say something else but my father clearing his throat behind us got her attention. It was about damn time that got here, "Dr. and Mrs. Cullen! I was just saying hi to Edward and Bella, I really hoping that I would get to see you while I was home from school." Angela was attempting to act innocent, but Mom and Dad weren't buying what she was selling. Bella turned to me and rolled her eyes before she finally pushed her way past Angela leaving Mom and Dad to deal with the nut job at the door.

Bella and I walked to the back of the diner and slid into an open booth. Mom and Dad joined us a minute later, laughing. "I'm sorry. I forgot to warn you guys that she was back in town."

"It's not that we didn't expect her to be, but how can she still be so delusional?"

"I don't think that it stems just from her crush on you, Edward. There is something serious going on with her. You know that I am not one to gossip, but her parents are at their wits end with that girl. I guess she's not only on academic probation at school, but she's about to get kicked out of the dorms for violating their no alcohol policy. I just reminded her that she promised her parents that she'd stay away from the two of you if she came home this summer. They were considering making her stay in the city and get a job so she could get some real world experience. They gave in to her and let her come back after she called in tears claiming that she was homesick."

"I wouldn't have bought that from her, but her father did. I would advise that you two just stay away from her. She needs some serious help. Maybe electroshock therapy," Dad quipped.

"Carlisle!" Mom admonished him, but it was hard to take her seriously when she was failing miserably at keeping the smile off her face.

I was shocked by that. Angela always got good grades and was always called the perfect minister's daughter by people in town. I guess not so much anymore. "She's sick alright, Mom. She's a total head case."

Mom grabbed her menu and started talking about things that sounded good. I guess that meant that we were done talking about Angela, which was fine with me. As long as she stayed away from Bella and Tanya she wasn't my problem. As soon as the waitress came and took our order Mom and Bella started talking about things that they wanted to look for in Port Angeles. Bella wanted a new swimsuit to take with her. I was more than happy to endure an afternoon of her trying on bikinis. I would be thrilled if I could get her to consider a bikini. She preferred one pieces because she was still self-conscious of the scars on her stomach from her pregnancy with Tanya. Tanya needed a swimsuit as well. Plus she needed a few other pieces of clothing for us to take with us. The kid was growing like crazy lately.

We took off as soon as we were done eating. We had a lot of shopping to do and we needed to back in time for dinner with Charlie and Sue at their place. I let Bella sit up front with Mom as they were still talking about shops that they wanted to go to. I closed my eyes and smiled as I listened to their easy banter and laughter. I loved that Mom and Bella really cared about each other and got along so well. They were close before, but Mom staying with us after Bella heart attack just brought them even closer as friends.

The first stop we made was the department store that Mom said had the best selection of swim wear. Bella and I headed up to the swim area while Mom said that she needed a pick up a new night gown or two and would join us soon. I was actually glad that she didn't drag us into that. From the smirk on her face she wasn't heading to buy some floor length, long sleeved, flannel thing.

I tried to put Mom's shopping out of my mind we roamed around the swimsuits. I kept trying to hand Bella the skimpiest ones that I could find. I begged her to just try them on, just to see. Yeah she had some scars, but they weren't as noticeable as she thought they were. Really, you could barely see them anymore. She finally agreed to try on a deep purple one. I sat in the chair just outside the waiting room when she peeked her head around the door way.

"Come out here. Please. I wanna see."

Slowly, she crept out of the dressing rooms and stood in front of me, "Bella, you are stunning in that. But maybe you're right and you shouldn't get it after all; too many guys will be staring at your boobs."

"Stop being ridiculous Edward. You're just saying that because you talked me into trying it on and you're my boyfriend. You naturally feel obligated to tell me I look good no matter what the truth is." She had wrapped her arms around her stomach.

I grabbed her arms and pulled them away from her body, "I said it because I meant it and it _is_ the truth."

"Oh my God! Look at her! That woman is hot!" A male voice behind us got our attention. I turned around to see a bunch of teenage boys standing there staring at Bella. Bella turned and ran back into the dressing room but the boys just stood there staring at the spot she'd been standing in. I wanted to follow her in there to make sure that she was okay but I couldn't. I didn't want to get in trouble for going into the women's dressing room. My mother herself would beat my ass if she caught me in there. I was frustrated and turned to take it out on the people that I could, "Move on!" I yelled at them. "It's rude to stare at strangers, especially women trying on swimwear!"

"Dude, is she your girlfriend?" One asked me.

"Yes."

"You are so lucky, man. She's got a great body."

"Get out of here!" I yelled at them. "It's rude to stare at strangers, especially women trying on swimwear!"

Then they ran off before I could say anything else to them or have the sales lady call security. I was really tempted to have them thrown out of the store. Mom walked up from the other direction and put her bag on the chair that I just vacated and smiled at me before walking into the dressing room.

I moved the bag off the chair, cringing when I saw something lacy in there, before sitting down again. I grabbed my phone out of my pocket and started checking my email. It was a half hour later before Mom and Bella came back out of the dressing room. She had a sapphire blue one piece in her hand but she also had the purple bikini as well. "I decided that I want both of them," she said with a smile. I don't know what Mom said to her, but whatever it was, I loved her for it. Now I just had to get through this trip without being arrested for beating up anyone and everyone at the beach with the audacity to stare at my girlfriend in her bikini.

A/N:

Happy New Year. Thank you for reading and have a great holiday!


	36. Chapter 36

OOO Chapter 36

Paradise

EPOV:

It was difficult for Bella to say goodbye to her father after only two weeks in Forks. He'd used up most of his vacation time when he came to Los Angeles in February, and only would have enough time left to come back for Tanya's second birthday in August and that would be the last time we'd see him until we came back for Christmas. This year, mom and dad were going to go to France to spend Thanksgiving with Alice so Bella and I were staying in California with Jessica.

We were now on our final flight to the Bahamas and only had about thirty minutes left until we landed. Alice and Alec's flight wasn't due until two hours after we landed so they were going to meet us at the hotel. Mom and Dad had reserved two suites for all of Alice and Alec were staying in the same suite and we were since it was three bedrooms and Mom didn't want to deal with problems with Dad with Alice and Alec sharing a room. Dad could be a little protective of his only daughter, especially since none of us had met Alec. Jasper told me that he thought he was a nice enough guy when he met him. I didn't understand how he could be so calm and accepting about the whole thing. I would never be able to handle the thought of Bella dating someone else without throwing some kind of fit that I'm not ashamed to admit would involve a good amount of tears.

Tanya was currently sleeping in Mom's arms where she and Dad were sitting two rows in front of us. Which Bella and I were relieved about, we had worried that the excitement of all the flying would put her off her nap schedule. She had going back and forth between us and my parents when she crawled up into mom's arms, laid her head on mom's shoulder, and was asleep minutes later.

Before I knew it the flight attendants were going around having us prepare for landing. I had spent the last two weeks excited about spending time with my girls on the beach. I was excited to take Tanya to the beach and teach her how to make sand castles.

Three hours later we had gotten settled into our hotel. We had unpacked, changed our clothes and we were now sitting on the floor of the main living area playing with Tanya and waiting for Alice and her boyfriend to arrive when there was a knock at the door.

I jumped up and ran for the door. I opened the door and Alice immediately threw herself at me. It had been way too long since I'd seen my sister. I hugged her back, "I missed you, Alice!"

"I know," she sniffled before pulled away from me. "Edward, this is Alec. Alec this is Edward." I shook his hand and moved to let them into the house. I promised Bella and Jasper that I would be nice and give the guy a chance. Even though I still believed that Alice belonged with Jasper.

Alice ran past me, into the room and through herself at Bella before noticing Tanya on the floor watching them, "Oh, she's so big! She's so much bigger than she looks on Skype." She dropped to her knees, "Hey beautiful girl, I'm your Aunt Alice. Do you remember me?"

"No." I smiled because poor Alice didn't realize that even though Tanya had a large vocabulary, 'no' was still one of her favorite words.

"You remember Alice, sweetie. You see her on the computer," Bella said to her.

"NO!" Then she started giggling.

"You do remember me, don't you. May I have a hug?" Alice smiled as she finally caught on.

"NO!" Tanya laughed again before jumping up and running for me, "Daddy!" she yelled holding her arms up for me to pick her up. I grabbed her into my arms and she gave me a hug. It wasn't really personal to Alice, and I told her that, "She'll warm up to you quickly. I guarantee that by bedtime she won't let you put her down."

Alice nodded and she and Alec went to put their bags in their room and change for dinner. By the time that they came back out it was time to meet Mom and Dad at their room. As we were leaving, and we were ensuring that we had the room keys, I gave one key card to Alice. We only got two, so each couple was going to have to share and then we made our way upstairs.

Mom cried when she got ahold of Alice. I didn't think that either of them were going to be willing to let go of the other for a long time. We all stood there waiting for them to stop hugging but finally Alec turned to Dad and went ahead and introduced himself to Dad.

We gave Mom and Alice a few more minutes of hugging before Dad intervened, "Ladies. We have reservations for dinner." Mom finally calmed down and let Alice go, but ran off to the bathroom saying that she just needed a minute.

The resort that we were staying at had several restaurants. Dad had chosen to make reservations at one of the more casual family friendly ones for our first night here. I was glad. We were all tired from traveling all day, especially Alice and Alec who'd been traveling since yesterday.

It took Bella and I awhile to figure out what we could order on the menu that was acceptable to her diet. I was glad that we had dad here to help us navigate the menu. This was going to be different for us. We had stopped going out to eat after Bella's heart attack in February. It was mostly a matter of me being busy at school and Bella being bored at home and cooking meals made her feel useful. Well, that is after Mom left, but strangely, Mom cooked for us for the same reason. Besides, it was cheaper to eat at home and we'd saved a lot of money.

As soon as the waiter left after taking our orders, Dad smiled at looked over at this strange boy that his daughter had brought with her on our vacation, "So, Alec, tell me about yourself."

A/N:

I'm sorry for the delay. I wish that I had a good excuse but all I have to that my son has been hounding me to read the Hunger Games since we say the movie last March. I finally gave in and read them. I wish that I could say that I guarantee updates will come sooner, but I really cannot write at work anymore which means I only have the evenings, after I cook, clean, workout, yell at my son to do his homework and practice his violin 5 million times, and shower. And that doesn't include the night I have to take my son to his hour long music lessons. I will not let too much more than a week go by between updates but I also have to write updates for Assumptions which may go to permanently updating every other week. We just have to see if I can get a chapter of that written every week. I'm sorry but I just can't help it right now.

Not long ago, I was going through my twitter friends and I was deleting people that had flounced the fandom well over a year ago and somehow I managed to delete people that I didn't mean to. I've been getting messages from people asking why I unfollowed them and until that moment I had been unaware that I had. SO, if I unfollowed you by accident, I apologize and ask that you let me know so we can rectify the situation. If you want to follow me, I'm branson101 there. I do tend to mention how updates are coming along and if there will be delays in posting. I also talk about my son and my five cats a lot and I vent about my job. I'm also on facebook as branson writering. I've promised myself to go post over there more this year.


	37. Chapter 37

OOO Chapter 37

Getting to know you

EPOV:

I almost felt sorry for the guy. Almost, but not quite. I didn't know this guy and I wasn't ready to trust him with my sister. He told us about how his parents both worked all the time and it was up to him and Jane to watch out for their two younger siblings and take care of the house. That is how they got into cooking. They quickly got tired of making the same old boring meals and started looking for new dishes and recipes to make and with that they discovered that they not only had a passion for cooking but a talent for it as well. They hated to leave their siblings behinds but they were old enough that they didn't need Alec and Jane to take care of them anymore and pushed them to go to school.

After dinner Bella and I decided to go back up to our suite and put Tanya to bed while Alice and Alec went for a walk on the beach.

"He's a nice guy, Edward." I hate that she was right. I hated that he was a nice guy that seemed to care about my sister. I didn't answer Bella but went to the dresser we'd put Tanya's clothes in and grabbed out some pajamas.

"So, did you decide on a theme for her birthday party yet?"

"Changing the subject isn't going to change the reality of the situation," Bella said in an exasperated tone as she carried Tanya into the room wrapped in a towel and handed her to me. "I'm going to go get ready for bed." She kissed Tanya on the forehead, "Good night my Angel."

She left me to dress Tanya and put her to bed in the crib that my parent's had requested that the hotel put in here. So was already yawning and was barely keeping her eyes open when I laid her down with her airplane and kissed her goodnight myself before turning out the light and retreating back the room that Bella and I were sharing.

I walked into the room and found Bella lying in bed wearing a new lacey nightgown and reading a book. I grabbed the book and threw it on the floor before I grabbed Bella and pulled her down so that she was lying down and then I crawled on top of her.

We didn't have enough moments like this. I gathered up her nightgown in my hands before reaching both hands underneath and exploring her body. She reached for my shirt and started pulling it over my head. We stripped each other naked slowly and continued exploring each other's body with our hands and our mouths. Not that I hadn't already committed each and every inch of Bella's body to memory.

After we finished making love we laid there holding each other and enjoying the peace and quiet that was surrounding us. Again, something that we didn't get a lot of at home.

"I like your new nightgown. It's pretty. When did you get it?" I didn't remember her shopping for lingerie recently.

"Um…honestly? Your mom bought it for me."

"My mother is buying you lacy nightgowns?" I was a little perplexed that mom would actually even consider doing something like that.

"She said that every woman needs pretty nightgowns to make feel beautiful and sexy."

"You don't need a nightgown to be beautiful or sexy, Bella. You're both without even trying."

She turned in my arms and kissed me, "I love you."

"I love you, too, Bella." With one more kiss she climbed out of bed and put her night gown back on while I grabbed some pajama pants from the dresser. We climbed back into bed and drifted off to sleep in each other's arms.

I woke the next morning to utter silence. I looked at the clock and was surprised that it was already after eight. I climbed out of bed, being careful not to wake Bella, and went to check on Tanya. It was unusual for her to sleep late. I walked out into the common living room and found her sitting on the floor playing with Alec. I had not heard him and Alice come in last night.

"Hey. I was already up when she started calling out for you guys so I went and got her. I hope you don't mind. I just thought you and Bella would appreciate the chance to sleep in."

"That's fine," I replied as I sat down on the couch and watched Tanya playing. "I figured you and Alice would be suffering some serious jetlag today."

"I am kind of. I'm still on Paris time which is about one in the afternoon right now."

"How long has she been up?"

"About an hour. I hope you don't mind I gave her some juice that I found in the kitchenette. I figured it was for her."

"Yeah, that's fine. I'll need to wake Bella soon to see what she wants to do for breakfast. Tanya's used to eating about this time every day."

Alice stumbled out of her room a minute later and came to sit next to me on the couch. Tanya looked up when she heard Alice talking to Alec, she stood up and walked over to Alice and climbed up in her lap. "I still can't get over how big she is."

"You're telling me. I can't believe that she's turning two in August."

"I wish I could be there for her birthday. I hate that I'll have missed all of them."

"Alice, you can't help it and honestly, she won't even remember who came and who didn't. I don't think she'll actually care as long as she gets cake."

"CAKE!" Tanya yelled out clapping her hands. "Want cake!"

"Did you just offer her cake for breakfast?" I heard Bella's voice behind me.

"Cake! Cake! Cake!"

"Uh…not exactly. I just mentioned cake for her birthday. I think she misunderstood."

"You better hope that she doesn't have one of her meltdowns when she doesn't get cake for breakfast." I hoped that she didn't either. She was a good baby for the most part but she could throw a tantrum like a champion when she wanted to.

We decided to order breakfast in the room just in case and then go down to hit the beach. Mom and Dad were going to meet up with us later after they spent the morning on their own. Eating in the room would also give us time to pack our beach bags while we waited for the food to arrive. And trust me; we were practiced at packing for taking Tanya to the beach. I could swear that she was part fish sometimes.

A/N:

Happy Friday and Happy Superbowl weekend! See you as soon as I can write again.


	38. Chapter 38

OOO Chapter 38

Truth

EPOV:

I ordered Tanya pancakes and tried to stress that they were technically cakes but she didn't buy it and did, in fact, throw a tantrum. We refused to give into to her fit and give her cake and eventually she calmed down and ate her breakfast. Although I did see Alice put a little extra syrup on Tanya's pancakes when she thought that we weren't looking. It was the point that I was helping Bella count out her morning pills. When we had Bella's pills counted out, I got up to put the bottles back in one of the cabinets in the kitchenette and bring Bella a glass of water. When I returned to the table I found Bella and Alice engaged in a conversation but Alec was staring at the pills that were lying on the table.

He looked up and saw me watching him and quickly returned to eating his breakfast. By the time that we were done eating Tanya needed a bath and her hair washed before we could go to the beach. I took care of Tanya while Bella went to get herself ready. I was already in my swim trunks so I was ready to go.

When I came back out to the common area a half an hour later Bella was in the kitchen talking with Alec. I walked in and heard them discussing how some foods can interfere with the effects of medication. Bella was telling him what she was taking and what she knew that she had to avoid. It was something that I had never thought to ask about. I knew about drugs interacting with other drugs but foods never occurred to me. I was surprised to find out that Bella and my father had discussed the topic at great length and she'd done additional research on her own.

I was about to make our presence known but Tanya did it for me by yelling for Bella, "I wan' mama." Bella walked over and kissed me as she took Tanya out of my arms. Bella had pulled her hair up into a braided bun. I went out to the living room and handed Bella her hat and put Tanya's on her head while we waited for Alice to final join us.

It was a mere fifteen minutes later that we were walking out of the suite laden down with several bags filled with diapers, wipes, snacks, juice boxes, sunscreen, and towels. When we arrived at the beach Tanya got excited when she saw the water. We knew that she really couldn't appreciate that this wasn't our beach at home. She was wiggling in Bella's arms trying to get down. The second Bella gave in and set her down Tanya took off running for the water. Alice took off after her for us. She walked Tanya back, who immediately sat down and started digging in the sand.

"I told her that I'd build a sand castle with her," Alice told us and I gave her the bag that contained Tanya's beach toys. Then I went to find a stand to rent a beach umbrella while Bella and Alec laid out the beach towels and got us settled.

I spent the day watching Bella like a hawk making sure that she didn't overdo it in the sun today. The last thing that any of us wanted was for her to end up in the hospital. Bella and Alice were currently in the water playing with Tanya leaving Alec and me alone on the beach.

"Look, Edward, I know that you are in a tough spot because Jasper is your best friend and roommate." I nodded. "But I'd like it if we could be friends too. For Alice's sake."

I didn't answer him right away but remained staring out at the water watching the girls splashing around and laughing. When I finally looked over at him I found that he was watching them too. "Are you the reason they broke up? Did you encourage it?"

"No, I did not. She's had a real tough time being away from everyone. We hated hearing her crying almost every night and it only got worse after calls home, but she made that decision on her own."

"It was just convenient that you were there to take up the vacancy as her boyfriend?"

"Look, if it wasn't me it would have been someone else. Someone that might have only been in it to use her for what they could get from her. At least with me, I know what I getting into and what I am risking. And between me and her, I care about her enough that I would rather it be me that ends up with the broken heart."

"What are you talking about?"

"I'm not stupid. She still loves Jasper and I know she'll end up getting back together with him eventually. At least I can take the only chance that I will ever get to be with her and take care of her now. Maybe that does make me stupid because I only stand to get hurt. I just hope like hell we can still be friends when it is all said and done."

"How do you not consider that using her?"

"Because is this scenario, she is the one using me. And I am letting her. I wish I had a shot in hell at being her forever. But I don't see that happening. But for now, she is happy with me and I intend to do anything and everything that I can to keep her happy for as long as she will let me be by her side."

"So you're saying that she is using you?"

"And I am knowingly letting her. Would you rather I left her to fend for herself with jerks that only want her for sex and will dump her as soon as they get it? There are a lot of assholes out there. Trust me, Jane has a real knack for finding them."

"I didn't think of it that way." Our conversation ended there as we say the girls heading back to us.

"Tanya and I need a nap," Bella said with a yawn. So the three of us gathered our stuff and took off back to the hotel leaving Alice and Alec back on the beach. I didn't know what to think about Alec. I thought about how calmly Jasper had taken the whole break up and wondered if he realized that this was some stage that Alice was going through and believed that Alice would come back to him one day.

Bella laid Tanya down for her nap while I took a shower to rinse the salt water and sand off me before I got into our bed. I was still standing under the hot water, lost in thought, when Bella climbed into the shower with me.

A/N:

Happy Saturday. For those that have wondered about Alec, he's a good guy that wants to be the one that is Alice's one true love but knows that he not the one. He is a good guy.

Those of you that read Assumptions know that a lovely woman, Sweetpea123, beta's that story for me. Today is her birthday and I wanted to take a moment and wish her a happy birthday.

Thanks for reading.


	39. Chapter 39

OOO Chapter 39

Normal

AlicePOV:

I know that my brother doesn't understand my decision to break up with Jasper. But he didn't leave home and everyone he loved behind. Most of our friends went with him, including Jasper. It started off being just a case being homesick, but by the time that I had to leave after Christmas, I was more jealous and resentful than I was homesick.

It made me feel like shit for feeling like that. It was all my fault because it was my choice to go to France. I know that. But I couldn't change my plans now. Given everything, I know that this is where I am supposed to be. I did love my school. I was learning so much from my teachers and my roommates were just awesome. Especially Alec. He was the one person that I could go to and confide in when I was getting overwhelmed. He was the one that insisted that I go home for Christmas when I was hesitant to go. He was adamant that it was important for my relationship with Jasper that I go and spend time with him.

I knew that I had hurt him. But I know that it was better to do it then, rather than wait until things got bad and there wasn't even a hope for us to be friends. This is where I was glad that he had Edward to be there for him. I somehow managed to hold it together until I was on the plane that I picked up in New York and would take me to Paris. Once we were in the air I let loose the tears and cried until I fell asleep.

I spent the first couple of weeks back at school keeping to myself. I went to school and work and came home and locked myself in my room until my roommates staged an intervention. They cornered me as I was coming home from picking up an extra shift at the restaurant. I was covering for someone that had caught the flu. The three of them were waiting for me outside our building. They formed a wall of sorts and wouldn't let me in the building until I promised to go have with them to the pub for a drink. It helped their case that Jane had stolen my house key off my key ring before I woke up this morning and wouldn't have been able to let myself into our apartment even if I had been able to make it past them.

They got me to talk that night, which was essentially what they were after. I told them everything that night. They listened to me and hugged me and were there for me, and really that was exactly what I needed then. Jane and Demetri left early. I knew damn well that they were going home to have sex. Alec and I stayed at the pub for an extra couple of hours to try to give the couple time to wear themselves out and fall asleep before we went home. The last thing that either of needed that night was to have to hear those two going at it.

Things were better for me after that. Alec made sure that I didn't hold anything in again. We took walks, just the two of us, just talking. And laughing. He was good at making me laugh again. He took me out for Valentine's night. Well, after we got off work. All students were on duty that night giving the number of reservations the restaurant had book. We were completely exhausted from running our asses off all night, but it was the kind of exhausted where we knew we were both too tired to actually sleep, so he took me out to dinner at an all-night café we were fond of. After dinner, we took a walk down by the Seine and that is when I kissed him. I didn't plan to. We were standing there and he pulled me to him, wrapping his coat around me to try to keep me warm and I just did it. Neither of us said a word about it. I think that he was afraid that if we talked about it, I'd tell him that I regretted doing it. But I didn't and that freaked me out.

I wanted to call Bella and talk to her about it but it was still Valentine's in California so I had to wait until I knew it was morning there. I was tired from not sleeping as I called Bella cell. It rang until it went to voicemail so I tried Edward's. It went right to voicemail. I tried a few more times as the day went on but I never could get them on the phone. I tried Leah and Jessica too but they weren't answering. Finally I decided to call Mom. I was really getting concerned when I couldn't get her on the house phone or her cell. I tried Dad's office only to have it go to the after-hours service. They told me that he'd gone to California due to a family emergency. That is when I got scared. I was freaking out and angry that I was stuck in France and no one would answer their phones. That is when I decided to call Jasper. It was the first time that I had talked to him since _that_ night. It felt awkward and unnatural but he was good about it. He told me that Bella and that my parents were indeed there. He kept trying to assure me that Bella was going to be fine after she had some time to recover. He promised to call me with updates on her as they came up.

I had all but decided to drop everything and fly home but Alec convinced me that I needed to stay in school. There was nothing that I could do for her but sit with her, and she had enough people doing that already. Besides, my parents would lose it if I ditched school like that. He was right. I wanted to be there but I couldn't go there. So I stayed. I stayed and I let him hold me and comfort me. He sat with me, and held me, during every call that I made home.

Things with Alec progressed quickly from there. He asked me out on a date and I said yes. Things were easy and comfortable with him. Kind of like it used to be with Jasper. I liked it. I felt normal for the first time in months. We went on more dates and kissed a lot more. Then came the night that we ended up in my bed together. I wanted him so bad that I made love to him. I had only ever been with Jasper before but the strangest thing was that I felt guilty about not feeling guilty about it.

I didn't tell my family at first. Jasper and I were exploring being friends and talking but I was scared that telling him would hurt him but I knew that I couldn't keep it from everyone forever. Jasper was the first person that I did tell. I felt that I owed him at least that much. He took it better than I expected. He admitted that there was someone that he was considering asking out but wasn't sure if he should or not. I hoped that he did ask her out. He deserved to be as happy with whoever she was, and he never told who it was, as I was with Alec. And I was happy.

I finally told everyone else and they were happy for me. Well, for the most part. I know that Edward was conflicted, he wanted to be happy for me, and he tried, but he was also concerned for his best friend. I worried that Jasper was doing as well as he let on, but he sounded fine. I just had a feeling that everyone was keeping something from me. Like something happened to him after we broke up. Whenever I'd ask about him right after Christmas, all I got was too innocent replies of, 'he's absolutely fine.' I wanted to demand that tell me what was up but that wasn't my place anymore.

My mom was happy to include Alec on our family vacation. I wanted them to meet him. I knew that they'd love him just as much as I did once they got to know him. Especially Edward. It was important to me that my brother be happy for me. And Alec was eager to meet them. He'd heard me talk about them so much over the last year.

As I sat in the shallow warm ocean water holding my niece as she splashed her mom, who was sitting right next to us, I turned to back to look at Alec and Edward sitting on our towels and talking. Today had been really good so far, they were getting along and whatever they were talking about Edward was smiling. I turned back to Tanya with a smile on my own face. Tanya stood and turned to me, throwing herself at me, giving me a kiss before moving over to Bella's arms. I leaned back in the water until I was lying down. Yeah, today was a damn good day.

A/N:

Alice and I thought that she needed to tell her side of the story. I'm thinking there will be a time jump for the next chapter.


	40. Chapter 40

OOO Chapter 40

Life

EPOV:

"Daddy! Daddy!" I smiled as I got out of my car. "Today is my birthday!" I smiled as I watched my little angel run at me. She was so beautiful and looked just like Bella. Acted like her too. They had the same temperament and intelligence. She loved watching Bella when she was working on projects at home. Some days I was sure that Tanya was going to end up being an architect too. She was always asking Bella about her designs. Bella had gone back to school full time once Charlie's insurance threatened to drop her if she didn't. There was no way we were going to be able to afford her medical bills or medicine without the insurance. She managed to finish last year and has been working at a smallish firm that she did her internship with. She's not exactly designing skyscrapers yet but someday she will.

"I know baby. Happy Birthday." I told her as I grabbed her up into a big hug. She really was _my _angel now. When Bella and I got married almost two years ago I officially adopted her and today she was turning eight. The lawyer involved told us that in order for it to be completely legal we had to get her birth father to sign the papers. I was almost afraid that Bella was going to change her mind about the adoption to keep from dealing with the paternity issue. She still had no idea because she refused to even consider looking at the DNA results. "You're her dad is every way that could ever count," is what she always told me, but she knew just how the adoption meant to me. I wanted Tanya to be my daughter legally. She waited only a couple of days before calling Charlie and asking him to mail her the test results. It only took two weeks from then for our lawyer to contact us and tell us that Phil Dwyer signed the papers.

Bella had decided that she just wanted a small, intimate wedding on the beach here in Los Angeles and that is what she got. Only our family and our closest friends were invited. Then we had the reception at our favorite restaurant. We had the judge for the adoption there as well. As soon as we were pronounced husband and wife the judge signed the papers and the three of us walked down the aisle together, officially a family. Our parents took Tanya for a week while we went on a honeymoon. That was one of the best weeks of my life. The next week we all met up at Disney World. That was one of Tanya's best weeks ever. Our parents spoiled her so much that we had to pay for two extra suitcases for of all the souvenirs the y bought her.

I stepped into the back yard and looked at Charlie and Dad standing at the grill. As I stood there watching them I thought back to the day that I went to Charlie about wanting to marry Bella. Today we were having a party just for the family. Yesterday Bella and Leah had braved the pizza arcade for a party with Tanya's classmates. I felt bad that I couldn't be there to help but I had a thirty six hour shift at the hospital. I knew that Bella understood. She had been completely understanding about everything over the last few years.

I left Dad and Charlie to their argument over what was the correct way to stack the charcoal and went inside the house. I swear they have the same argument every time that they attempt to BBQ together. I said hello to Mom and Sue who were in the kitchen working on the side dishes and made my way to my bed room to take a hot shower.

The hot water felt amazing on my tired muscles. It had been a long shift; we had two admissions to the NICU. Our department had the rule that residents were not allowed to be on shift without an attending present. Our patients being preemies and delicate made them special cases and the hospital felt better if we were supervised. I felt better that we were being supervised. Everything we did had to be signed off on. I knew that it wasn't that they didn't trust us it was a liability issue for the hospital and peace of mind for the terrified and distraught parents of the babies. They wanted reassurance that they babies were getting the best care by the most knowledgeable and competent doctors. I completely understood and working the NICU was never easy. I knew that going in from my experience volunteering at the Port Angeles hospital. My attending told me that every year when new residents come in they lose at least one in the first month. They can't take it when a baby doesn't make it. I saw a couple of them go. Bella and I try to get up to the Port Angeles NICU whenever we get back to Washington. The doctors and nurses love to see a success story come in so they can see them grow and flourish.

By the time that I rejoined my family Tanya was sitting with Jessica, "Can't I _please_ have my baby brother and sister today?" Tanya had her hand on Jessica's swollen stomach. She was completely fascinated with the way that the twins moved and kicked and constantly with Jessica with her hand on her stomach and talking to them.

"Not yet Tanya," I said, "I told you that they still have two months left before they are going to be ready to be born."

She sighed and started to pout, "But I want them at my party."

"They are at your party," Jessica told her. "They're right here. Just enjoy your last year not having to share your cake with them. Next year their going to eat all your cake!"

"No they won't! Daddy won't let them. Will you Daddy."

"I will protect your cake with my life. I promise." Then I looked up and saw Bella standing in the doorway watching us.

A/N:

The next chapter will post on Sunday. Just trust me.


	41. Chapter 41

OOO Chapter 41

Life pt 2

BPOV:

I stood in the doorway watching Tanya with Jessica. I don't think Jessica will ever know how much what she's doing means to Edward and me. I was so angry at first. I wanted to have another baby so we went to Carlisle and he ran all sorts of tests only to tell me that it wasn't advisable for me to get pregnant. My heart wasn't strong enough to withstand the stress of a pregnancy.

It just wasn't fucking fair. Hadn't I already suffered enough from what they did to me? Why? Why did I have to suffer and deal with the repercussions of this for the rest of my life? I just wanted to put it all behind me once and for all and forget about it. Well, not completely forget about it. There was Tanya. In the back of my head I knew the truth, but in my heart her only father was Edward.

Edward let me have a few days of anger and attitude before he sat me down and made me talk about it. There was a part of me that wanted to just give up and admit that I was never going to win. He actually found me in the kitchen, standing in front of the fridge, with the trash can, about to throw away all the health food that we had in there.

Edward made me see that we had options, and we discussed them at great length. We considered adoption but the whole point was that I really wanted a baby that was me and Edward. So we decided to look into surrogacy. It wasn't going to be easy or cheap but we decided that we really wanted to go with that option. We were discussing it one night when Jessica came home and overheard us talking about needing to someone that we could trust to be our surrogate. She sat down at the table with us and started reading through the pamphlets and paperwork that we had set up. After asking us a few questions about it she got up and left the room without a word. Edward and I started considering going through an agency to find a surrogate when Jessica walking into the kitchen for breakfast a few days later and told us, that if we wanted her to, she wanted to be our surrogate. It turned out that she'd taken time to do more research on her own and even went to see her doctor about it and ask questions.

The three of us talked about it and discussed it with our parents and we finally decided that we wanted to do it. Jessica went through a thorough health screening before anything went forward. They all told us not to be disappointed if it didn't work the first time, that there were no guarantees. Jessica promised that she'd do it as many times as we asked her too, but we didn't have a lot of money. Even though Edward's parents were helping us pay for it we knew the number of times that we were going to be able to try was extremely limited. It would literally take a miracle for it to happen for us. Edward had the most positive outlook of any of us. He kept telling me that we were going to get our miracle. And we did.

Jessica ended up pregnant on the first try. She was having such an easy pregnancy and was enjoying being pregnant so much that she told us that she'd do this again for us if we wanted her too. Edward and I had considered that. Tanya was eight today and that was a big age difference. We thought about trying again with Jessica as a surrogate so this baby would have a playmate. But we weren't exactly positive that we wanted to go through the stress and the cost again. I thought maybe adoption would be the right way to go if we wanted another child, but even that was expensive and was filled with doubt and uncertainty. Then we found out that Jessica was carrying twins. A boy and a girl. I was over the moon. I was sure that this was mostly likely going to be it for us in terms of having more children though Edward was determined that we not make any hard and fast decisions at this point.

Jessica was still living with us for the time being but would move out after she had the twins. She had recently started dating this wonderful man that was in awe that she was selfless enough to carry our babies for us. I was there the night that she met him. The two of us had decided to go out for dinner one night since Edward was working and Christopher was our waiter. He spent a great deal of time trying to flirt with her. I found it amusing to watch. By the time that we were done eating and I was paying the bill he came back up to us, "I just wanted to say congratulations to you and your husband on the baby. I hope I didn't make you uncomfortable, I just find you incredibly beautiful."

"I'm not married. And the father is her husband," she pointed at me. The look on the poor man's face was hilarious. He just kept looking between the two of us not sure what to say next. I decided to let the poor guy off the hook.

"My husband is the father and I am the mother." Okay. That may have actually confused him more than he already was.

"I don't think I get it," he said scratching his head.

"I offered to carry a baby for them because Bella can't."

"I have a bad heart," I added.

"So you carry the babies, and go through the pain of delivering both of them, and just hand it over to them?"

"Well, yes, but it is theirs biologically, not mine. I'm just a living incubator."

"That is…you are an amazing person to do this."

"She really is. Edward and I are completely grateful to her for doing it."

"Yeah, well, they saved me from a future of going nowhere by letting me move here with them." By the time that we walked out of the restaurant they had not only exchanged numbers but they had planned a date in a few days. They've been inseparable since.

I walked into the living room and sat down next to Edward. He wrapped his arms around me and held me tight. I hated his schedule as a resident and he was worried about how I was going to handle working full time, Tanya, and two babies with his schedule. It was going to be hard. I knew that. But he was taking a couple of weeks off when the twins were born and then Esme was going to come stay with me and Sue after Esme had to go home. It was going to be a few months before I had to deal with all three kids on my own and by then they should be sleeping through the night.

Esme walked into the living room and told us that dinner was ready. Our parents had insisted on doing all of the cooking and party prep for us while I took Jess for a checkup. I was fine with that plan. I walked over to the couch and was helping Jess up when Jasper walked into the room carrying his two year old son, Harry.

A/N:

Happy…ok it's not Sunday and it's barely still Monday. Sorry. Just Sorry. I'm going to write the next chapter of Assumptions and then I'll get back to this story. We still have a couple more chapters of this story, but not many. I was thrilled that everyone jumped to the surrogate theory. I was a little afraid that I left it ambiguous but the story needed to come from Bella.


	42. Chapter 42

OOO Chapter 42

You did what?

EPOV:

I watched Jasper carrying Harry into the room and head straight back for Bella's and my room. I figured that he was going to change his son's diaper and followed him back. Harry was currently going through the same squirming phase that Tanya went through when she was that age. I found it stressful and irritating when it was me trying to catch a runaway toddler with a naked butt but it was hilarious when it was Jasper.

I always knew that Jasper and I were destined to become family, I just didn't expect it to happen the way that it did. It all happened the weekend of his twenty-first birthday. Bella and Leah had planned out a party for him with a few close friends. We arranged for James and Victoria to take her for the night because we didn't want her around the party when a few people were going to be drinking. Leah and Jess had already turned twenty one so they went out and bought the alcohol for the party. Emmett wanted to be there but it was football season and he had a game. Rose flew out though, she was not going to miss celebrating her twenty-first with her brother either. Beside us roommates, Rose, and Renata; Bella invited three people from Jasper's study group. We insisted that anyone invited be of age so we didn't have to deal with policing people. The surprise guest was Alice.

Leah, Jess, and Rose met Jasper at school and kidnapped him to take him to a bar before they brought him home for our party. That was supposed to be party of the fun of turning twenty-one, being able to hand over your driver's license and get served. They had a couple of drinks before making their way home where Bella had some food ready to go. She wanted to get a cake but I wasn't so sure that beer and cake were a good combination so she dropped that idea.

We may not have been drinking but Bella and I were having fun watching those that were, especially when they started acting stupid. I was really glad that we got Tanya out of here when they started getting loud and lost their ability to filter things that were coming out of their mouths. If Tanya had heard some of those things and repeated them to her pre-k class, Bella and would have been in deep shit.

It was after one in the morning when we got everyone settled in sleeping bags or their bed rooms and Bella and I retired to our room. When we woke the next morning Jasper, Leah, Alice, and Rose were gone. We just thought that they woke up hungry and went out for breakfast so we didn't think anything of it. The rest of our guests woke up and left as they heard us up and moving around the house. We offered them breakfast but they declined. Bella and I were enjoying the day hanging around the house by ourselves knowing that James and Victoria were taking Tanya to Disneyland for the day. It rivaled the beach as her favorite place to go. They weren't going to be home for hours.

Bella and I took some time to enjoy having the house all to ourselves since it happened so rarely. After we were done we curled up on the couch with our textbooks and took advantage of the quiet to get some homework done. We weren't paying attention to the time and before we knew it, it was dinner time and we still hadn't heard from our friends. We tried to call and text them but got no response so we just figured that they were out having fun and started our dinner. We were used to this. Between our studies and Tanya our friends ended up going out a lot without us. We didn't mind. We had responsibilities they didn't and we weren't about to guilt them into staying home with us instead of going out and being young and free. Besides, we enjoyed our family time.

It wasn't until Tanya came home and Bella was giving her her bath before putting her to bed that Jasper finally called us. I was standing in the doorway talking to Bella when my phone rang, "We're in Vegas, man!"

"What the hell are you doing in Vegas?" Bella turned at stared at me wide eyed for a minute before turning her attention back to our daughter in the tub, but I could tell that she was listening intently to my conversation.

"Well, after you guys went to bed the four of us decided that it would be fun to come to Vegas since we are old enough to go into the casinos."

"Alice isn't."

"No. But she came along to because Alec is working as a sous chef in a restaurant here. She wanted to see him again." Alice and Alec lasted a year before they went their separate ways. They graduated from the program and Alice was asked to stay on at the restaurant and expand her training. Alec was not. So they ended things. I never asked where he ended up going to work but now I knew. "There's something that I need to tell you."

"What?"

"We got married."

"Who 'we'?"

"Me and Leah!" I was…in shock. I probably shouldn't have been, but I was. By the time that Bella and I had returned to California the summer that Tanya turned two, he and Leah had already gone out on a couple of dates. He was as happy as I had ever seen him. I was positive that it wasn't going to last long because he and Alice weren't meant to end up together. But two years later he and Leah were still together and happier than ever.

Jasper and I talked for a little bit longer before he hung up saying he needed to spend time with his wife. As soon as he hung up I called Alice. "Edward I'm fine with it. I'm happy for them," she told me.

"But you love him."

"Of course I love him. He's Jasper and I'm Alice and we are always going to love each other. But he's not in love with me and I'm not in love with him. I realized that after Alec and I broke up. I just can't take being apart from Alec. I gave up my position in France and I'm moving to Vegas. It is really my fault that we ended up here. I told them that I was stopping here on my way home to see Mom and Dad and somehow we decided to make it a group trip. We would have invited you but didn't think you'd be able to with Tanya."

"Not on such short notice we wouldn't have. Just promise me that if you and Alec get married Bella and I will be invited. I am not looking forward to telling Bella that her sister got married without her."

"I'm glad I'm not you right now."

Bella's feelings were hurt but Sue took it harder. She cried for days. I had to promise Charlie that we wouldn't pull that shit when we were ready to get married. Alice and Alec were back together and happy. They wanted to be here for the party but the big move was next week. They had finally saved enough money to open their own restaurant and it was going to be right here in Los Angeles. She told us that she was tired of being away from us and missing everything. I couldn't wait to have my sister close to me again.

Jasper and Leah moved out about a year after they married. Jasper is in his first year working at a law firm and is happy there while Leah and Jess opened their own salon. Leah and Jasper got the surprise of their lives when they found out that they were pregnant. They named their son Harry Charles, after Leah's father and Charlie, obviously, and Sue cried for days again.

A/N:

Ok. I know that a lot of you aren't going to be happy with the way that went, but I had it planned that way from the start. It is rare for a high school couple to make to a happily ever after and not realistic at all to expect three couples to make it. To me, it had to be Alice and Jasper. I wouldn't do it to Bella and Edward. But they are happy with their partners. There are still a couple more chapters to go. I'm not done yet. And there are a few outtakes that I've planned. There is at least one scene that I cut because it didn't feel realistic enough but I want to flesh it out and post it anyways. Thank you for reading.


	43. Chapter 43

OOO Chapter 43

BPOV:

After we were done with lunch and presents, which I was grateful that Edward managed to talk Emmett out of getting Tanya the dog that she'd been begging for, Edward excused himself to go to bed. I was surprised that he'd lasted as long as he had but he was not about to disappoint our little girl on her birthday.

Everyone left to either go to their homes or to their hotels except for Dad. He, Tanya, and I had a standing date every year on Tanya's birthday. We got into my car and drove down to the Catholic Church that was close by. The three of us did this every year without fail. Tanya knew that my mother was died the day that she was born but she didn't know how she died or why. I knew that one day she'd start questioning things and I wasn't looking forward to having to tell her.

We walked into the church and went straight to the candles in the front. Dad lit one first after putting some money in the donation box. Then I did the same. Together we helped Tanya light her candle before we went to the first pew that was empty. We filed in and knelt down and said a quick prayer for Mom. Even after everything that happened, I missed her terribly. Tanya eventually moved down the pew and picked up a book that was lying on the seat and started to read it.

"Your Mom would be very proud of you."

"You think so?"

"I know so. I know that I am proud of you too. You've worked so hard to overcome everything and look at how you've succeeded. I was proud of you the minute you fought to keep her. Your mom made a lot of mistakes and bad decisions back then but I know she'd be proud of what a great mother you are to her and you will be to the twins when their born. Man, Jessica Stanley being a surrogate for you. I never would have seen that coming. She's a completely different girl than she was in high school."

"She is. She really grew up when her family imploded."

"Has she talked to her parents since she left home?"

"Not her mom. But her father showed up at the house a couple years ago. I think that she still keeps in touch with him." Dad nodded at that.

"How are you really dealing with Edward's long hours at the hospital?"

"It's hard and I miss him when he's gone. But this is his dream and his hours will drop once he's an attending. He'll always work nights, weekends, and holidays but I can live with that."

"He's a good man. I knew that he would be. He was always made it a point to put you and Tanya ahead of everything else in his life. He and I have always agreed on one thing when it comes to you, we've only wanted you to be happy. "

"I'm very happy dad."

"Good. So does that mean that there is no chance of me convincing you guys to come home after his residency is over?"

"I don't think so. There just isn't a big enough demand for architects in Forks. Besides, we love the warmth and the beaches here. You know you could always retire and move here." I teased him.

"I don't think I could take big city life. I've always been just a small town guy. I like the peace and quiet of Forks."

"That is one thing that I actually miss."

We sat there talking for a while longer before we decided that it was time to head back. I drove Dad to his hotel for the night since Sue had taken their rental car and returned to the hotel with Harry. They had offered to take him for the night to give Leah and Jasper a break. They offered to take Tanya too so we had her overnight bag in the trunk. It included one of her swim suits so she could go swimming in the hotel pool tonight.

"Are you guys joining us at the beach tomorrow or should I come get her in the morning?"

"We'll meet you there. I can't wait to see Tanya show us how well she can surf."

"I'm really good Grandpa. Mr. Shawn says that I am the best in the class." Tanya had started begging for surfing lessons last summer after one of her friends from school started learning. Edward and I gave in and signed her up for classes this summer. She is really good, but she has a lot to learn yet.

When I got home I took a hot shower and poured myself a glass of red wine and made myself a sandwich before curling up on the couch to watch a movie. I loved the movie, The Campaign, it was hilarious, but I had to make sure that Tanya wasn't around to catch any of it since there were a lot of inappropriate scenes and language for an eight year old.

When the movie was over I went to the bed room and crawled into bed next to Edward. He was sound asleep but he still rolled over and threw his arm around me. It made me smile that he was drawn to me even when he was dead to the world.

I woke the next morning to an empty bed. That was unusual because Edward would normally sleep until at least noon after a long shift. I got up and wandered out of our room in search of him. I found him in the kitchen cooking breakfast. Now, that wasn't too rare. Edward had started cooking as a hobby over the last few years. Homemade was always better than premade or store bought according to him. I think he was just finally completely brainwashed by his sister. I didn't have time to make jam from scratch nor was I even going to try.

"Hey there, beautiful, I was going to bring you breakfast in bed. I made your favorite. Baked French toast," he said with a wink.

I laughed at him, "If I remember correctly the last time that we ate French toast in bed you ended pouring the syrup on me and licking it off. I never did get the stains out of the sheets."

"Yeah, but we had a great time destroying those sheets." He walked over to me and wrapped his arms around my waist. "Besides, we actually have the house to ourselves this morning. That never happens." He pulled me closer to him and kissed me.

"Is that why you are up so early today?"

"I wasn't my morning alone with you sleeping. I have plans to do other things in that bed." He lowered his head to kiss me neck. "Now, get your pretty butt back in that bed and I'll be there in a few minutes with the food." He kissed me again before I ran off back to our room. I crawled back into bed and grabbed my book off the nightstand to keep my mind occupied while I waited for Edward to join me.

A/N:

I've written this chapter so many times I lost count. Every version was redundant versions of past chapters or just plain sucked. Then my cats hindered my progress by climbing on my chest every time I picked up my laptop. I can never bear to move Gidget who has a lung issue and wheezes all the time. We have to watch her for signs of asthma, It's a possibility for her. One night I got distracted writing the new story that I will be posting after On Our Own and Assumptions are both finished.

Thank you for reading. I have to write the next chapter of Assumptions before I come back to this. I'll do my best to write tomorrow since I am refusing to even get dressed tomorrow.


	44. Chapter 44

OOO Chapter 44

A day in time

Epov:

There were some mornings that I wanted to rethink my decision to become a doctor. Today was one of them. I was working all the time right now so I could take time off when the twins were born. I had gotten home at midnight and it was now four in the morning and I was up and getting ready to go back. Most residents would have crashed at the hospital, but I tried to come home and sleep next to Bella as often as I could. Even if it was only for a few hours it was important for me to try to be there with her. I did wish that I'd been able to spend time with Tanya. I did slip into her room and kiss her forehead and leave a note telling her that I loved her on her pillow. I finally forced myself to release my hold on Bella and climb out of bed. After a quick shower, I dressed in a pair of slacks and dress shirt that Bella had obviously pressed for me last night. She was good to me like that.

I walked into the kitchen and started searching through the supply of those k-cup things. Bella had bought me a Keurig machine last Christmas and I just loved it. Coffee really was a must for me these days. It helped to keep me alert on days like today. Bella stocked herself some cups that she could have like decaf or cocoa or cider. I picked out my favorite Italian Roast and started the machine to brew in my to-go mug while I grabbed my bags from the living room. I went back to the kitchen and opened to fridge to get the creamer out and found a bag with my name on it. I opened it with a smile as I realized that she had made me breakfast and lunch to go.

I looked out through the window of the office saw Krista, one of the new first year residents, examining a baby that I had admitted the night before that was born at 30 weeks gestation. The mother had gone into preterm labor after a car accident. I walked over to her as she finished her exam of the baby who we were calling Baby Arnold at this point. I had had to intubate him and he had so many tubes coming from him that it could be overwhelming for the family. His father and grandmother had come down with him while the mother was still in surgery to repair various injuries she had incurred in the accident. Visiting hours were long over at that point but there were times when it was necessary to break that rule. We would never turn a parent away whose child was just born because it was after hours. Nor would we turn away a parent that just was upset and just needed to see their child. We'd had many of those over the years.

I walked out to where Krista was making notes on the computer next to the little boy's incubator. "There's no change yet," she sighed.

"It has only been a few hours. He seems strong. Give him time," I grasped her shoulder as she hung his chart on the wall by his incubator. "Why don't you take a break and get some coffee. I'll finish here for you."

I finished the charts on the babies that we had admitted to the NICU and went to talk to the nurses about how their night went after I left. They were concerned that Krista wasn't going to make it as a NICU doctor. She was very sweet and extremely competent but she was having trouble seeing the babies fight for their lives. It was never easy for any of us but we had to move past it and be strong for the families. They looked at us for everything because they had no idea what was going on or what to do for their babies or even what to expect. She had only been with us for a month and a half and I knew that Dr. Watkins was going to give her a bit more time to thicken her skin, so to speak, before he approached her about it. Besides, it hadn't affected her work or her interactions with the families. She just got weepy and emotional at times. There was nothing wrong with it, we were just worried about her.

I went back into the office and sat down at the computer and finished typing up the notes from the delivery and admittance last night. I was still working on my charts when Krista walked in and sat down in a chair across the room.

After a few minutes of silence she finally spoke to me, "How did you get used to seeing babies in distress?"

"You don't really get used to it you just learn to push past it. You have to remember that I've been around this for years. I volunteered as a cuddler in high school. My daughter was in a NICU at one point. I've seen the tragedies and I've seen the successes. You are a great doctor but remember that this department isn't for everyone. It's hard and not everyone can do this as a lifelong career. I've seen more than one first year resident walk away and choose a different path. I've seen a couple of chief residents and attendings walk away too. Give yourself a little more and don't give yourself a hard time about it."

"Thanks, Dr. Cullen."

"Call me Edward. We are not overly formal around here."

"Ok, Edward. I didn't know you had a kid."

"She just turned eight and my wife and I are expecting twins via a surrogate. Jess is due in a week. Just so you know, I'll be taking a couple of weeks off then to be home to help Bella. Baby Arnold's father just walked in. I'm going to go talk to him. Why don't you stay here and catch up on your charts until it's time to do the hourly checks?" I patted her on the shoulder as she nodded as I stood up and walked out of the office.

"Good morning, Mr. Arnold. How is your wife doing this morning?"

"She's awake and having a fit to come see him but her doctor doesn't want her out of bed just yet. She's not happy at all that she can't come down here."

"My father in law said that my wife was the same way when she had our daughter and couldn't get to her. It's normal. She's just scared and not used to being separated from the baby yet. I see it a lot actually. Now, how are _you_ doing?" He had not been in the car with his wife when the accident occurred. She had been out to a movie with a couple friends and was on her way home. From what I heard both friends had been admitted as well.

"I don't know where to be. I feel like I need to be with my wife and I feel like I need to be here too."

"That's normal for the fathers. Have you two decided on a name for him yet?"

"No. We wanted to wait until he was born and decide. I guess we have to do that soon, right?"

"You have some time. Don't worry about that. I was just asking," He nodded. "His status hasn't changed since you left last night but we expected that. It will take time for him to gain his strength and improve."

"Thank you for everything you are doing for him."

"Please remember that we are here not just for him but for you, your wife, and the rest of your family. If you have any questions or concerns please don't hesitate to come to any of us."

"Thank you."

"You're welcome and one more thing that I should mention to you, we have volunteers that come in to hold the babies. We call them our 'cuddlers'. I just want to warn you before you walk in and see some stranger holding and talking to your son but they are all trained well on how to handle the babies."

"People actually do that?"

"I did it as a teenager. It's actually where I met my wife. Her daughter was just admitted and I was holding her when Bella walked in and flipped out and punched me. No one warned her about the cuddler program."

"No way," he laughed.

"Yep. It's a funny story now but then I wasn't too happy with her. Her and our children are my life now."

I left him to sit with his son in private. Krista and Tom, the other first year resident, were walking around doing the hourly checks on the babies and I followed behind them signing off on their work. Dr. Smith, the attending on right now, would follow behind me. After I was done, I walked around and talked to some of the other parents that had filtered in and answered their questions. I was talking to some parents whose daughter we were hoping to release in a few days when one of the nurses came out of the office, "EDWARD!" My head shot up toward her. "L & D just called. They admitted Jessica."

I took a quick peek at my watch and realized that Bella would be at work right now, "Do you know if they called my wife yet?"

"No, I didn't ask." I nodded as I ran out of the room and took the stairs up on floor to the labor rooms.

A/N: I want to say that I am not a doctor nor have I been to medical school. I probably got the timeline wrong as far as how long Edward would be in med school, internship, and then residency. I am taking my best guess here. I am sorry if I got it wrong. Thank you for reading.


	45. Chapter 45

OOO Chapter 45

Babies

A/N: This story is unbeta'd and may contain errors. I own that.

EPOV:

I walked into the Labor room that they had Jess in and found that the only other person in the room was her nurse. "Did you call Bella yet?"

"She's on her way. " I nodded at her. "I also called Renata. She said that she'd wait for Tanya's bus and she will stay with her until you and Bella decide it's time for her to come up to see the babies just like we planned. I also called Leah, Jasper, Christopher, and Alice. They are on their way, too. I called everyone on my way here."

"Good. Thanks. How _did_ you get here?"

"Cab. I was out shopping when my water broke. I was just glad that I was close to this hospital. I would be freaking right now if I was stuck at a hospital that I wasn't familiar with."

I smiled at the memory of the three of us deciding to have Jessica come here to deliver the twins. Our OB was here and I knew the entire maternity ward staff well. I not only worked with them but they were friends that I hung out with outside of work. I turned back to Jess, "How are you feeling?"

"Nothing. I'm feeling absolutely nothing right now. They gave me that epidural thingy. This shit's awesome, but it is weird not be able to wiggle my toes." She giggled as she threw another ice chip in her mouth. I laughed at her and turned my attention to the machines that she was connected to. All the heartbeats seemed to be strong so I was able to relax a little.

"I'm going to go call my parents and Bella's so they start traveling." I walked out of the room and down to the waiting area where I could make my calls without disturbing the other patients. I had to go all the way to the elevator bays to get good reception. I got Mom on the phone first. She was part excited that the babies were about to be born and part upset that she was going to miss it. I didn't have the heart to remind her that she wouldn't have been able to be in the delivery room anyways. They only allowed two people and that was going to be Bella and myself. Mom promised that she'd call Dad and Charlie and they would be here as soon as they could. I guess, the four of them had had their bags packed and ready to go for about a week now. Just in case.

I was just ending my call with Mom when the elevator door behind me opened and Bella came running out, nearly plowing me down. I grabbed her and steadied both of us before we both fell to the ground. "I didn't miss it, did I?" She was out of breath like she'd run all the way from the parking lot.

"Nope. There is still quite a bit of time left. But you need to calm down. It's not good for you to be this worked up."

"I'm fine," she promised taking some deep breaths. After her breathing slow to normal I took her hand and we walked down to the room they had Jess in. It wasn't too long before Alice and Alec arrived and Leah, Jasper, and Christopher weren't too far behind them. At one point, I walked out of the room to get Jess some more ice chips and I ran into a man that I had known from the NICU. He'd had a son born premature a year and a half ago. His was one of our success stories. When he came in we weren't sure that he was going to make to the end of the hour, but when he left us two months later, he was strong and healthy.

"Dr. Cullen?" the man approached me.

"Hey Mr. Kinney. How have and the family been? How's Spencer?"

"He is getting so big. He's literally our miracle. Thank you, again, for everything that you and the rest of the staff did for us. I don't think we could ever repay you for your dedication and compassion."

"You're welcome. I'll tell you it's the success stories, like Spencer, that is why we do what we do. I just wish that every baby we see could have same happy ending."

"Yes, we were very blessed. And we've been blessed again, obviously. We're had a daughter this time. She was three days passed due so, while I appreciate what you did for us and Spencer, I am so glad that we won't be needing your services this time."

I laughed at that, "Thank God for that. Really. But I'm not here for work. I'm actually here because my wife and I are having twins."

"Wow! Congratulations! I'll be sure to tell my wife. She'll be thrilled for you. She's always raved to people how amazing you were with babies. I saw it too. Congrats again!" he said as he turned to return to his family.

I finished filling the cup with the ice and returned to the labor room. As I walked up to the room I found every but Bella standing outside, "Is the nurse in there with them?"

"Yep. We were happy to give them some privacy." Alice shuddered.

"Of course you were," I teased her. Stuff like this had always grossed her out yet she could butcher and entire animal if she needed to. I continued into the room without pause. We had already discussed this with Jess. She wasn't very shy with her body to begin with and she knew that not only did I want to be in the room but I wanted to cut the cords.

I walked in as the nurse was finishing the exam and was pulling the sheet back down to cover Jess' feet again. "Hey Edward," the nurse, I knew as Cara, greeted me before turning back to Jess, "Well, dear, you are still at 7cm right now. I think we're going to be here awhile. My advice is to sit back and enjoy being the center of attention for now."

Cara sent everyone else back in as she left. That is how the rest of the day went. Jess was stalled out at seven still. At six, we decided to go get something to eat in the cafeteria. Bella and refused to be gone at the same time, so I went first with Jasper and Alec and when we got back she would go with the rest of the girls. Jess had to settle for ice chips and graham crackers for dinner. That was all the Cara would allow her.

At eight, Jess was finally at 8cm. We were glad that she was progressing again. Cara came in and told us that she needed everyone but Bella and I to leave the room for the night. They could stay in the waiting room but Jess needed to rest. Cara instructed Jess to try to nap to rebuild her energy for delivery. Thanks to the epidural, Jess was able to get some sleep.

At nine, there was a soft knock on the door before it opened to reveal our parents standing there. And I mean all of our parents. Including Jessica's.

A/N:

Happy Friday! I want to remind everyone that we are nearly at the end of this story. I can't tell you how many chapters are left. Things tend to change from what I plan and what I write with every chapter. I do have a few outtakes planned and a new story in the works. I had the epidural when I had my son many, many years ago. I remember joking about not being able to feel my toes. My nurse told me that if I hadn't asked for it she would have tried to convince me to get it because I was going to labor overnight. I did sleep that night because I couldn't feel the contractions. I would recommend it to anyone.


	46. Chapter 46

OOO Chapter 46

The best of days and the worst of timing

BPOV:

Esme grabbed me into a hug as she entered the room, "We ran into her at Lax and she wouldn't leave us be until David finally told her what was going on. I'm sorry."

"That's alright, Esme, it's not your fault." I sighed before turning to watch as Mrs. Stanley entered the room and walked over to Jess.

"You always did yourself get talked into doing some stupid shit, but this really takes the cake." I moved forward ready to drag the woman out by her hair. Esme grabbed my arm, forcing me to stop. I looked up at her and she shook her head.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Jessica snapped while pushing away her mother's hand. The woman had the nerve to try to smooth back Jess' hair while insulting her.

"I was just returning from the most amazing cruise. Wait until I show you all the pictures. It was the best time I've ever had. We sailed out of Los Angeles and we stopped at Cabo San Lucas and Puerto Vallarta!"

I realized what Cindy had just said a moment before it registered on Jessica's face that she had caught on too. Edward and Carlisle who were close to the bed started to back up quickly, "Are you telling me that you were in LA a week ago and you didn't think to call me and meet up with me?"

"I didn't have enough time between my flight and boarding the boat."

"You could have scheduled your flight to have enough time to get lunch with me or even just a cup of coffee! Hell, I would have settled for picking you up from the airport and driving you to the docks. It's obvious that you don't give a shit about me so tell me, again, why the hell you are here?"

"Don't be such a drama queen. You're one to talk anyway. You don't call me anymore. I didn't even know that you went and got yourself pregnant involved in some insane scheme to give these two another kid."

"I'm not discussing my decision to help two people that have been by my side for years with you. And I stopped calling because you never answered your phone or bothered to call me back. I was tired of being the only one trying."

"You know what; the nurse only wants it to be Edward and I in here right now. I'm afraid we're going to have to ask everyone to wait in the waiting room with everyone else," I spoke up wanting to calm things down before it caused problems with Jessica or her labor progress.

"You can't kick me out of here. She's my daughter and I'm staying. You or Edward can go wait in the waiting room."

"OH! I DON'T THINK SO, LADY!" Edward started forward yelling.

"Edward," Esme said in her easy mannered way, "Calm down sweetie. Cindy. NEITHER one of them are leaving this room. Those are their babies being born. They have every right to be in here. This has been discussed by them at length since Jessica offered to be their surrogate. Come with us. NOW."

"My baby girl needs me here."

"Mom?" Jessica said in a sweet voice that made me cringe. I knew from experience that she never used that tone when she actually wanted to be nice.

"Yes, dear?"

"Get out." Mrs. Stanley looked around at Jess like she couldn't believe that she'd heard her correctly. I just walked to the door, opened it and gestured for her to leave. She grabbed her purse and stomped out of the room. I immediately felt sorry for everyone that was going to have to put up with her in the waiting room.

As soon as everyone left the room and Jessica calmed down Edward stretched out on the couch in the room and fell asleep. He been putting in a lot of hours lately and I knew that he had to be completely exhausted. Jessica tried to sleep but it just wasn't working for her. It wasn't working for my either. I pulled a deck of cards out of my bag and we played poker until the nurse came in for her next vital and update check. Jessica was at the same place in terms of dilation. She groaned when the nurse told her that if she didn't start progressing in a major way soon the doctor was going to have to consider a C-section.

"I don't want to have to have surgery." Jess looked ready to cry.

"I know. We are going to go that route unless Edward says that we should. He would never put you through it unless it was necessary. Ok?" We had discussed the possibility of a C-section after we found out she was carrying twins. If it was medically necessary it was one thing, but none of the three of us were keen on the idea as an optional route. Edward and I were opposed to anything that put the three of them at risk or caused Jessica more pain and a longer recovery period.

"Ok. Now deal."

We played cards until Jess was able to doze off for a couple hours. Before I realized it the sun was coming up. I walked over to the windows and watched the sunrise. I was usually up early enough that I could watch this everyday, but I was always too busy to take a step back and enjoy watching a new day come to life.

I was still standing there when Edward came up behind me and wrapped his arms around my waist, "It's amazing the things we take for granted as we race through our busy lives."

"Yeah, I know." We stood there and watched in complete silence until the sun had completely risen in the sky before I turned and kissed him.

I was just about to suggest that I head down to the cafeteria to get us both some coffee when there was knock on the door. Sue popped her head in, "Is it okay that I come in for a minute?" We nodded and she entered carrying two cups. She handed me one that contained herbal tea. I turned to glare at her, "I'm sorry. I know you probably haven't had much sleep, but you're still on a strict no caffeine diet. You'll just have to learn to deal with the exhaustion another way." She left a few minutes later after I update her and Edward on what the nurse told us earlier. She said that she'd tell everyone that they'd need to stay put for awhile longer as Jess was resting. She turned back as she was walking through the door, "If you need anything at all just let us know and we'll get it for you."

It wasn't long after that that Jess started to stir. She was telling us that she was starting to experience some pains again. We called the nurse back in and she told us that it was getting close, just another hour or so.

I decided to walk out to the waiting room to give everyone an update. I also had to get something to eat so I could take my medicine. Jessica had taken the initiative to pack some of my pills in her bag just in case.

I walked into the waiting room and found everyone just sitting down with Styrofoam containers of food. "Hey honey," Esme greeted me as I approached them, "I was just coming down to tell you two that we had breakfast waiting here for you. We didn't think it would be right to bring it in there since Jessica can't eat and I am sure that she has to be starving by now."

"She has mentioned being hungry a few times," I said as I sat down on the floor next to Alice and started to eat my whole wheat pancakes and egg white omelet. I ate quickly, not wanting to leave Edward to deal with a tired, hungry, pregnant Jessica in labor on his own too long.

"Where's Jessica's mother?" I asked noticing that the horrid woman wasn't here.

"She threw a tantrum and left the hospital after she was forced to leave the room last night," David told me.

"Huh, after the fit she was throwing I kept expecting her to try to get back in all night."

"It surprised us that she just left, but unfortunately, I don't think that we've seen the last of her."

"You're probably right. But I am not going to worry about her right now. I am just going to revel in the fact that Jessica is going to give birth really soon and that she'll be able to do it naturally." Everyone was as relieve d as we were that surgery was not going to be necessary.

I felt refreshed as I walked back to the labor room. Edward was torn between wanting to get some food and not wanting to miss anything. I shoved him out the door promising to get him if anything happened.

At just after eleven that the doctor was finally called in and it was time for Jessica to start pushing. Edward and I stood on either side of her holding her hands and encouraging her along. After all the hours of labor that she endured, she ended delivering them in just under thirty minutes.

Edward was holding our daughter, who had been the first to be born and was a chubby little. I had our son, he was leaner and a little longer than his sister, but thankfully they both had their father's crazy bronze hair.

"Let me see them," Jess asked with exhaustion clearly present in her voice. Edward and I both leaned over and as she reached out to touch their tiny faces.

"They're amazing. So beautiful!"

"Thank you so much for this, Jessica, I don't think there is any way in the world that Bella and I could ever repay you for this," Edward choked out, overcome with emotion from the day. We both leaned over and kissed Jess on the cheek.

"Just remember to invited me to all of their major life events. I think I've more than earned the right to be considered family," Jess joked as she reached out to take the baby girl Edward was holding from him so he could go get our family.

"We considered you family long before you offered to us give this miracle.," Edward said as he handed over the baby, stood up, and walked out of the room.

A/N:

This is it except for the epilogue. It was hard enough to get this chapter written as I feel that I've more than explore the live of these characters. There will be an outtake or two. There is one specifically that I wanted to include in the story but was too crazy and crackficy to be able to fit it in anywhere. I do have another story that I am working on getting started. Those that reviewed the epilogue of Assumptions got a teaser for the prologue. I don't have a title for it yet but I can tell you that it has a reverendward. I look to start posting sometime in July maybe the beginning of August. If you want to see the teaser just let me know and I'll send it to you! See you as soon I can with the epilogue of this story. Sorry, but I cannot promise a timeframe. Thank you for reading!


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